No One Said It Would Be Easy
by skyfire146
Summary: A continuation of sorts for Pokemon Ranger. Set five years later. Team Dim Sun strikes at Fiore and threatens to tear both Fiore and Almia apart. There will be a crossover with Shadows of Almia. Solana x Spenser and Kate x Keith
1. Chapter 1

**In the beginning, this is mainly a Pokemon Ranger fanfic, but there will be some crossover with Shadows of Almia as well later on. I love both games! Btw, this is also a Solana/Spenser, which is different. I love Spenser and saw Lunick as more of a best friend than a romantic interest while playing the game, so sorry to all you Lunick/Solana fans! I hope you enjoy it! And please review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of their characters, even though I kinda wish I did. That's all! **

**Spenser**

"The Ranger Union has called me up," Elita admitted, crossing her arms. "I knew it was only a matter of time. They're giving me a month to have a replacement leader ready."

I was busy getting Elita and myself a glass of water from the kitchen of the Ringtown Ranger base. Elita had styler-mailed me saying that we needed to talk. Honestly, it made me a little nervous. We may be on the same level status-wise, but she scares me the most out of all the Fiore base leaders.

"So you'll be working as a real Top Ranger now," I answered, giving her one glass and keeping the other for myself, "Congratulations. Anyone in mind for your replacement?"

"That's what I'm here to talk to you about," Elita replied, setting her glass down on the table with so much as looking at it. So much for hospitality. "I've been thinking and Silent Chris is, well, silent and Freddie is nowhere near where he needs to be. Neither of them quite has the charisma or skill to run the base. I want you to give me Solana for a week or so for a test run."

I had unfortunately taken a sip of my water the moment before she imparted the request, and I was so surprised that I found it hard to swallow. I coughed so hard I thought I was going to hack up a lung.

"Spenser, are you okay?"

I cleared my throat, trying to stop my eyes from watering. "Yeah, I'm good," I answered weakly, "Did you say Solana?"

"Don't act so surprised," Elita grinned, "You've kept her for too long. You gotta share the talent."

"I don't know if she's ready to take on that kind of responsibility," I set my glass down, deciding to not take another sip until my conversation with Elita was over.

"She's definitely the best Ranger for the job," Elita countered, "She defeated the Go-Rock Squad and captured several legendary Pokemon. From what I hear, she works hard and always puts herself behind her team and Pokemon. At this point, she's only going to get better. Need I go on?"

I made a face. "From that aspect, yes, she's very good, but does she have the leadership qualities necessary?"

"From what I've seen, she's told you what's what more than a few times," Elita replied, eyebrows raised.

I made yet another face, realizing I was losing the argument. In the five years that Solana has been one of my Rangers, she's definitely stopped being afraid of me. She has shown amazing judgment in when to put her foot down and when to let things slid. Sometimes I barely even notice that she's bossing me around until after. She knew how to make people feel okay taking her orders.

"Look me in the eyes, Spenser, and tell me she's not ready," Elita challenged with a knowing smile, and I found I couldn't do it. Solana would excel at every part of it. She would love both the freedom and the responsibility of it. Was it so horrible for me to want to hold onto her? I would miss our everyday exchanges: the way her face looked when she got up for the early morning patrol (she tried to punch me one time when I went to wake her up), the way that she and I teased the crap out of Lunick for his relationship with Aria, the way that she and I stayed up late together every night (me doing my daily reports and her helping me remember everything that happened), and, jeez, I could go on and on forever.

"Are you scared that she won't pass the test?" Elita asked, eyes unreadable.

A jolt of pure fear shot through me. For the whole first year after my own leader test, I spent every waking minute trying to forget what I had experienced. But I had long since realized that such a thing would never happen. I would remember it for the rest of my life, long past the time when I stopped being a Ranger. However, it was necessary to prove your worth as a Ranger not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. You could be the best Ranger in the world, but if you didn't pass the test you could never become a leader.

Luckily, I was saved from making a reply when Lunick burst in the door, breathless. "Leader, we've got a fire in Lyra Forest. Solana was walking back from Fall City with Aria and spotted it. The two of them are on the scene now, but are requesting a lot of back-up."

I shot a look over at Elita. "Up for it?"

Elita grinned. "You bet, but we will finish this conversation later."

"Of course," I answered, motioning for the door, "After you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Solana**

"Hey, Solana," I heard Lunick's voice, and I immediately turned around. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Spenser (everything always seemed less complicated when he was around), but was only confused by the sight of Elita. Why was she here? I shrugged internally. The more help we had, the better. This fire was getting out of control fast.

"Aria and I have been collecting any water Pokemon we find and directing them at the flames; however, what we really need is a Blastoise," I filled Spenser in as I showed him where Aria had gone deeper into the forest. She was only a few feet in, and several Squirtle and Wartorle had circled her, fighting the flames with their water. When she caught sight of us, she grinned. "It sure is good to see all of you!"

"Same to you," Spenser replied, "We could use your help, especially when Solana over here is practically dead on her feet."

"Spenser, I'm fine," I argued, eyebrows drawn down. He knew me so well, and I didn't need it right now. I had been on an over-night trip to Fall City to help their Rangers with a group of rogue Krabby that were terrorizing the tourists at the port. I hadn't gotten any sleep in around 40 hours.

"Solana, Joel told me all about the crazy workload you had," Spenser answered good-naturedly, not letting this build into an argument, "Just stay with the group and don't go crazy."

I decided to just go with what he gave me and followed. He continued speaking, giving everyone their jobs. "Aria and Lunick, your job is to make sure the fire doesn't spread any closer to Ringtown. Let's keep it contained in the forest. Elita, can you stay here and help?" Elita nodded for an answer, and Spenser turned his gaze to me. "You, missy, are coming with me. I want to keep an eye on you. We're going to find that Blastoise."

I nodded, glad to be given a job. I followed Spenser into the flaming forest, careful to keep the Wartortle I had captured close behind in case something happened. We managed to make it all the way through unscathed. We found our Blastoise peering around, seeming unsure as to what the heck was happening.

"Stay here," he told me, holding out a hand.

"And what happens if you get hurt and I can't get to you," I asked coolly, keeping my composure.

"If something happens, I'm sure you'll find a way," Spenser answered tightly, "Now just cover my back." I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to tell him that I was fine and if he would just stop being so obtuse, I could help him more. Instead, I just covered it up and did the job he told me. I hated it when he was like this, but there was nothing else I could do.

He found his way to the Blastoise and engaged it, and my eyes kept flicking back and forth between him and the path I would take if I needed to get to him in a hurry. He captured it in no time at all and flicked me a grin as if to say 'now that wasn't so bad after all'.

He was walking back with the Blastoise in tow when I saw the branch fall. I was running for him within a split-second, my heart in my throat and my breath far behind me. My wits, luckily, had not left me and I ordered my Wartortle to put out the fire on the flaming branch immediately. It was no easy task, but I managed to push the branch off Spenser myself, not even feeling the strain on my aching muscles.

He seemed so small with his eyes closed, lying on the ground. He was soaking wet from the Wartortle's Water Gun and his hair was all in his eyes. I managed to stay calm even though I felt like the slightest thing could tip me off the edge.

"Wake up, Spenser," I ordered, tentatively brushing his hair to the side so that I could see his eyes. "I swear, Spenser, you'd better wake up right now, or I'll… I'll…" I couldn't think of a threat appropriate for how I felt, so I just slapped his face instead.

His eyes fluttered open and he groaned. "Yeah, I bet you feel pretty good right now," I told him, my heart jumping in my chest. He was okay. He was waking up. God, I could breathe again.

"Did you just slap me?" He asked groggily.

"Yes," I replied, shaking my finger at him, "And don't you ever scare me like that again. I'm too comfortable with you to get a new leader. Now can you stand if you lean on me? Cause we need to get to the center of the forest to that we can get this Blastoise that you almost died for to help us."

He looked up at me with a dazed expression. "Yeah, sure." I helped him up and he seemed to be able to stand on his own. At least he could walk without me helping him. I let him lean on me and turned to my Plusle, who had been inconspicuously following me the whole time. "Plusle, can you find us the best way to the center of the forest?" I asked. Plusle was the best at scouting ahead. It nodded and bounced off and I walked with Spenser and followed it. Let's just get this thing over with.

**Elita**

The fire was getting even more ferocious before the rain started to fall. I broke a smile when it started, thanking Spenser and Solana for the relief. Lunick and Aria were practically dancing with joy and I looked the other way when their hands met briefly. We then all waited for Spenser and Solana, who should have only been a few minutes away. Ten minutes was up and I was getting worried. Where were they? I was about to go out and find them when a Plusle ran up to me, making whatever noise Plusles make. I realized it was Solana's and relaxed, waiting for them to emerge.

Thirty seconds later, they did. Solana was supporting Spenser (Spenser of all people, who seemed like he would never fall) and had soot covering her face. She looked exhausted as she walked up to them, but her face was proud.

"Good job, everybody," she said, nodding. I noticed that she continued to support Spenser instead of passing him off. She hesitated, flicking a look at her non-responsive leader. "He would say the same, you know, if he wasn't so out of it." She shrugged and continued. "Everyone come back to the base and we'll get some food and rest." She turned to Elita and Aria separately, giving them each a handshake with her free hand and tired smile. "We couldn't have done it without you guys. Thank you so much."

"What about me?" Lunick asked good-humoredly. "No handshake for me?"

"Lunick, you got to see your girlfriend, which is more than you get any other work day," Solana replied dryly. "Be happy with what you get."

Our group turned toward the base after we got our laughs out of Solana's statement, and I watched Spenser's protégé intently, realizing that I had learned at least one thing today. I definitely wanted Solana of Ringtown to be the new Wintown leader, no matter how much Spenser didn't want to give her up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Here comes the next chapter. Please review!!!!**

**Lunick**

I was going into the Salamance's den. Or something equally scary, if not worse.

I was actually entering the sleeping quarters for all Ringtown Rangers, which were really just Solana and me. Spenser has his own quarters and we had lost Murph to the Union a few years ago. Spenser has his own theory about why we haven't gotten a replacement yet. "I was not, as I would have you believe, always this perfect," he had shared with us, "When I was younger and in Ranger School, I was sometimes a bit of a miscreant. It was Joel and Cameron's influence, definitely. Therefore, I'm not sure if the Ranger School is quite ready to trust me with one of their students."

"Or they're just waiting for the right clueless sucker to come along," Solana had snickered.

Anyway, getting back to the present, I was going into our sleeping quarters to wake up Solana. The problem was that it was for the dawn patrol. The problem was that Solana hates to be woken up earlier. I was about to get something thrown at me.

But there was no avoiding it. Spenser needed a break after getting hit by a tree branch yesterday. Seeing as we were exceptionally short on Rangers that left Solana to come with me. Besides, I found a certain, twisted humor in seeing Solana's reaction to having to wake up.

"Solana," I called in a quiet, sing-song voice, "It's Dynamic Duo time."

I heard a movement from the bed and ducked down just in time to avoid being wacked in the face with a pillow. "Do you know how much better my reflexes have gotten since you joined this team?" I joked. The next pillow hit me right in the chest.

"Ouch," I frowned, then brightened when I remembered my plan coming into the room. "Solana, I made you breakfast."

There was silence in the room for a second. "Okay, I'll be out in a second," she groaned. I grinned triumphantly and headed for the door. The only way to get her out of bed was to mention food.

_Whack. _She clipped me in the head on my way out.

**Solana**

I hate the morning. I hate the sun in the morning. I hate the cold of the morning. But most of all, I hate when Lunick wakes me up in the morning. He's too cheery.

I stumbled into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and looking only for my food. I was very disappointed to find a bowl of oatmeal at my seat, but I found I didn't have much energy to properly convey my disappointment.

"Oatmeal?" I said in a small voice, sitting down quietly and rubbing my eyes.

Lunick was busy chowing down on his own bowl of oatmeal with a Fiore newspaper spread out in front of him. "Yes, that's oatmeal, Solana. Try it. It's good."

I frowned blearily into my bowl. "But I wanted eggs."

"Well, next time I'll take your order the night before," Lunick retorted sarcastically, but I wasn't awake yet and could barely understand what he was saying.

"Spenser makes me eggs," I mumbled, spooning the oatmeal around.

Lunick put the newspaper down for a second, looked in my eyes, and patted my hand. "Just eat the oatmeal, Solana."

I nodded and ate the oatmeal.

**Lunick**

Things got better once we started moving. Plusle and Minun, who had slept as long as they could before we left, were now frolicking around and playing and were very much awake. I shot a look over at Solana to see if it annoyed her. It looked like the usual annoyed face she had in the morning.

The whole first hour of the patrol, I said nothing. Finally, Solana was the one to break the silence. "When did Aria leave?" She asked, still not sounding very happy.

"Early in the morning," I replied, glad for the conversation, "I saw her off."

"Yeah, I bet you did," Solana snickered. She does that a lot. Snickers.

I said nothing, but made a grumpy noise.

"Oh, no, not your grumpy noise," Solana teased me, looking much more awake. "I'm sorry I make fun of you and Aria so much, but it's just so easy and so much fun. Honestly though, I love the fact that you guys are in a relationship."

"Oh please," I snorted in disbelief, "I get nothing but grief from you and Spenser."

"No really," she insisted, and I could see she was dead serious now, "I sanctioned this relationship from the very beginning."

I shook my head. "Yeah, I don't remember it."

"You don't remember? At the celebration party after we beat the Go-Rock Squad. You guys kissed and I gave you the thumbs-up sign."

"I don't remember that," I replied, looking over her shoulder and breaking into a grin.

"Why are you smiling?" she frowned, "And how can you not remember this?"

"It's Murph," I pointed over her shoulder to where our old team member was standing, waving at us frantically. At the mention of Murph, the argument was immediately forgotten and Solana grinned just as broadly as I had.

She actually gave Murph a hug as she approached, an action she bestows upon few. I don't think he was ready for it because he almost fell over. Plusle and Minun danced around Murph's Slowpoke, and it stared vacantly around, which was how Murph looked right now. "Murph, you haven't visited in so long! It's so great to see you!" Solana gushed, and I have only seen her this way with Murph. It's like he unleashes some kind of hidden adoration.

Murph scratched his head and a slow smile spread across his face. "Well, it's good to see you too, Solana." He shook my hand when I offered it. "Lunick."

"Hey Murph," I replied, unsure what to say after Solana's heartfelt welcome, "Good to see ya."

"Say, is, uh, is Spenser around?" He asked, motioning to a blonde girl behind him that I hadn't noticed before. She was wearing a crisp, new Ranger uniform and looked nervous. She had to be fresh out of Ranger School.

"Yeah, sure," Solana answered, all gung-ho and enthusiastic now. "He's back at the base." She turned her attention to the girl. "Did you just graduate from Ranger School? Are you gonna join our team? What's your name?"

"Jeez, Solana, don't smother the girl with your questions," I teased her, glad to be getting her back a little.

"I'm Melody," the girl answered, sounding strong and out-spoken for all her butterflies, "I'm from Pueltown in Almia. I graduated from Ranger School and I've been assigned to your base." She gave a wide grin. "I can't wait to get started."

"Well, welcome to Ringtown, Melody," Solana smiled back. "I'm Solana and this ugly mug over here is Lunick."

"Hey," I made a mock-angry face at her, but let it go in good-humor.

"Oh, and this is Plusle, my partner Pokemon," Plusle jumped up on Solana's shoulder and Minun did the same on my shoulder.

"This is Minun," I followed her lead, "My partner Pokemon."

"And Spenser's our leader," Solana continued brightly. "He's back at the base. Lunick will take you guys there. I just have a little errand to run." She started to walk away, but I wanted to know what errand she was talking about.

"Wait here for one second," I told Melody and Murph, and I walked over to Solana, out of hearing range. "What's this errand?"

"I gotta go over to Larry's house," Solana said quietly, the laughter dancing in her eyes, "Spenser told me it was my job to do it when the new recruit comes. I gotta tell Larry to do it just like he did it for me. Melody won't have to wait long for her first mission."


	4. Chapter 4

**Melody**

I was exhausted. Really. I was pooped. I had spent the whole day chasing after this guy's Pokemon. See, he asked me to find it, but he couldn't tell me what it was. And whenever he tried to describe it, he started spouting nonsense. The only reason I even found it was because Solana told me when I had found it. It was a really confusing first mission. I hope it's not like that all the time.

We were all having dinner now as a team and I can't remember the last time I had eaten so much. When Spenser had heard that I was joining the team, he immediately decided we would go all eat dinner together in celebration. Everyone made something, even Murph, although his was unidentifiable.

"Hey, Spenser, pass me the spaghetti, would ya?" Lunick called out, and the bowl was passed down. "Who made spaghetti anyway? That's the easier thing to make it the world."

"I can think of something easier," Solana mumbled, "Instant oatmeal." She shuddered, as if reliving a bad memory.

"Did she tell you about this, Spenser?" Lunick asked while scooping pasta onto his plate. "I made her breakfast and then she complained about it."

"You never make Solana oatmeal," Spenser shook his head gravely. "Anything else will do. Eggs. Pancakes. Cold pizza."

Solana frowned into her plate. "Not cold pizza."

"Okay, just kidding," Spenser conceded, "Not cold pizza."

"Once it gets cold, it'll never be good again," Solana wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"Do you feel the same way about spaghetti?" Lunick asked, watching Solana's reaction carefully.

"Of course not!" She brightened, "I love spaghetti."

"It was definitely you who made it," Lunick answered triumphantly. "You're lazy when it comes to cooking and you like it."

"Nope," Solana shrugged, "I made the garlic bread."

"Darn it," Lunick muttered, looking around the table. "Then it was Murph who made it."

Murph grinned. "Is that your final answer?"

"Yes," Lunick replied after a moment's hesitation.

Murph made a surprisingly accurate and obnoxious buzzer noise. "Sorry, you got it wrong. Melody knows who."

I grinned, playing along. "It was our great and all-powerful leader, Spenser."

Lunick turned a shade of bright red. "Um, it's great pasta, Leader. Really tasty."

"No, go ahead Lunick, tell me all about how I'm lazy," Spenser grinned, amused.

Lunick mumbled off about something and I was glad I wasn't him. I did, however, let out a giggle or two at his expense. This team was more fun than I thought.

**Solana**

After we finished dinner, we talked for a little while. Then Lunick and Spenser went on the last patrol of the night and Melody, Murph, and I talked a little bit more. Apparently Melody's brother was some brilliant scientist and worked for Altru Inc. He helped defeat Team Dim Sun those four or so years back.

"We're back," Lunick called as they walked into the Ranger Base common room, a living room of sorts for all the Ringtown Rangers.

"Hey, did you guys know that her brother was the same guy who help that Kate chickie from Almia beat Team Dim Sun?" I asked, pointing a finger at Melody.

"No way," Lunick answered, as surprised as I was.

"She's a top-class Ranger," Spenser said, impressed. "Your brother must be really smart and brave if he was rolling with her."

"He is," Melody said, looking pleased.

"Was everything good out there?" I motioned toward the door.

"Yeah," Spenser nodded, "The forest is pretty badly damaged by the fire, but it'll grow back in no time at all. Until then, we'll just have to deal with the slightly charred scenery. By the way, I feel bad asking this so late, but when did Aria leave? I saw Elita leave and I thanked her, but I meant to thank Aria too."

"She left early in the morning," Lunick explained, "She said she had to get back right away. I guess Joel called her. I made sure to thank her though."

"I bet you did," Spenser snickered, and I burst out laughing at the look on Lunick's face.

"Spense, I said the same exact thing," I managed to get out between laughs.

"Alright, that's it," Lunick threw up his hands and turned to leave the room. "If you guys are just going to make fun of me all night, I'll just go to bed."

Murph, who had been watching the whole exchange with a goofy smile, nodded. "I'm going to bed too. That is, as long as a bed's open for me, chief." He grinned at Spenser.

"Course it is," Spenser smiled back. "There's always a place for you here, Murph."

I hid my laugh with a cough. "So corny."

"But so true," Spenser mock-glared back at me.

Melody yawned loudly, and Murph grinned. "I think it's time for you to get to bed too, Melody."

"It's been a long day," she grinned sheepishly.

The two of them followed the direction Lunick had taken to the sleeping quarters. Spenser made his way over to his desk, and I followed, plopping down on an armchair across from it.

"So are you ready to admit it," I asked him, watching him carefully. He looked up from his paperwork for minute and grinned.

"Admit what?"

"That you acted like an idiot yesterday," I replied with a hint of a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, writing something in and pretending that his focus on his papers was too great for him to pay attention to me.

"You should've known that I would do whatever it takes to get the job done. It doesn't matter how tired I was."

Spenser shrugged, but said nothing.

"If you wanted a pansy, you should've taken Lunick with you," I joked.

"I heard that," I heard Lunick yell from the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth.

I smiled, but kept my eyes focused on Spenser. "Are you completely better now?" I asked.

"I went on patrol tonight, didn't I?" He replied, tone mild-mannered and reigned in, as it always was. He never seemed to lose his temper and it irritated me sometimes.

"Humor me, Spense," I answered dryly, "It was me who had to push the burning branch off you. What did the doctor say?"

"Just a couple of bruises and mild burns," he replied, eyes locked to his papers, "You got to me pretty quickly."

"You can't always do it yourself," I said softly.

"I know," he finally raised his eyes up to meet mine and smiled lightly, an almost sad light in his eyes. "I just sometimes forget."

Lunick stuck his head in the room, managing to ruin the moment. "Sorry to disturb this talk you guys are having, but Melody used the last of the toothpaste and I think Murph is gonna freak if we don't get him some more. Where do we keep it again?"

I sighed. "I'll get it."

**Spenser**

I knew by now that I had to let Solana go. I just wanted to put it off as long as possible. I wanted to pretend things were going to be the same, even if it was just for a little while. I almost wished that I wouldn't miss her so much. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like I was going crazy.

She came back from getting the toothpaste and plopped back down in her armchair, bangs falling in her face for a moment before she blew them off. She noticed me watching her carefully and she grinned. "What is it, Spenser?" She teased, "Am I just too beautiful?"

I rolled my eyes, glad that she could still joke at least. The serious talk we were having before had me a little freaked out. "You were born humble, weren't you?"

"Humble and gorgeous," she grinned back.

There was a moment of comfortable silence in which I got back to filling out my papers. But I found it hard to concentrate on them now. How could I be casual about it? Elita told me just to say that she needed Solana for a while. How could I pretend this time was no different when it obviously was?

"So, Elita contacted me and said she needs your help for a little while," I said, then realizing I wasn't meeting her eyes, looked up at her. "I said no at first, but now that we have Melody, I figured it would be good for you to get some experience from her."

"For how long?" She asked, point-blank. I had hoped she wouldn't so I wouldn't have to lie to her, but so much for that.

"Just a week or two," I answered, "Until their new recruit gets settled in and accustomed to the lifestyle."

"Melody doesn't get that much luck, does she?" She grinned at me again, and I felt my heart pull a little. Why was I feeling this way? This was only normal, right? This was just me being sad about letting go of a friend.

"Neither did you," I replied, smiling.

"So when do I leave?" She asked, eyes quizzical and getting down to business now.

"Tomorrow morning would be ideal," I said, flicking my eyes back down to my papers, "You might want to get some sleep cause you're gonna have to get up early. And I think we're all going to draw short straws to have to wake you up."

Solana laughed and I looked at her, dead-serious. "I'm not joking."

She threw the small armchair pillow at me, but I managed to deflect it with my arm. "That's no way to treat your leader," I laughed.

I noticed, however, that she didn't show any inclination to go to bed, but I suppose she never did before. "A week is much longer than my other jaunts with Lunick have usually been. I bet you'll miss me something terrible," she grinned, settling back in her armchair.

"Yes, Solana, I'll miss you so much," I answered dryly.

"And you'll have no one to stay up late with or to make fun of Lunick with," she continued, counting off the activities on her fingers, "No one to throw pillows at you. No one to make eggs for-"

"No one to distract me while I'm trying to write my reports," I mock-glared at her, and she shrugged, reaching in the draw of the side table next to her to grab her journal.

"Fine," she answered, and I started hearing the mad scratch of her pencil, "I won't talk to you then."

"Why do you keep a journal anyway?" I asked, motioning with my pen toward her notebook.

"It's about time you ask," she sniffed, not ceasing in her writing, "It's my report-writing training for when I become leader. You know, for when you bite the dust."

"That's a morbid thought," I wrinkled my nose, "Thanks for getting my back on that one."

Solana scowled. "I was kidding, ya dummy. I don't know why I keep one. I guess I just want to make sure I remember everything."

"Cause every second with me is so special," I grinned at her, and ducked a second pillow. "Hey, where'd you get another pillow?"

"Just do your work, Spenser," she scowled again, turning her eyes back down to her notebook.

I proceeded to finish my reports, signing each one and putting it in the stack of reports to be delivered to the Union at the end of the week. I bet Erma will get a kick out of reading about how Solana had to save my butt in the fire.

Somewhere along the way, the scratching of Solana's pen stopped. I looked up at the clock as soon as I finished, seeing that it had been nearly an hour I'd been working. "Time sure does fly when you're having fun, doesn't it, Solana?" I cracked, flicking a look over at Solana. Then I bit my tongue, grinning. She had fallen asleep.

This had never happened before. I have to say, it did cross my mind to get the shaving cream or markers, but I knew that this would be the last time I saw Solana for a while and I didn't want to make her angry. However, had the circumstances been different…

Instead, I stood up and walked over to her chair, realizing I was going to have to move her. I didn't want her attacking some poor helpless Ranger who woke her up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom or something. We all knew how much Murph liked his late-night snacks.

I carefully picked her up, carrying her down the hall to the Ranger sleeping quarters. She woke up a tiny bit, snuggling up closer to me and burying her face in my chest. For some reason, my heart was pounding, but I could still manage a joke. "Jeez, Solana, I thought you stopped growing by now."

"Not around the middle," she replied with a hint of humor, not moving. I quietly entered the sleeping quarters, hoping I wasn't waking anybody else up, but they were all out. I put her down in her bed, and as cheesy as it was, tucked the covers around her. I was about to turn and leave when she caught my hand, interlacing her fingers with mine.

"I'll miss you, Spense," she smiled sleepily, and once again I felt that tug on my heart, like a tiny piece was trying to stay with her.

"I'll miss you too, Solana," I replied softly, and she let go of my hand. I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me and wondering just how badly I was screwed right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Solana**

_Everything's going well here in Ringtown. You may not believe it, but Melody confessed the other day that she kind of missed you. At least that's one person. I'm glad your week has gone well so far and that you seem to fit right in. You would fit in, with those crazy lunatics who have no problem with the cold. Seems like you've become one of them. Also, Melody says that apparently she and this Alyssa girl were best friends in Ranger School. Something about Melody's brother and Alyssa's sister saving the world. I don't know what Melody talks about half the time. She's started using big words lately and has taken to explaining things using analogies to science. It's very confusing sometimes. I miss you (occasionally) and hope the rest of your time in Wintown goes well. _

_Spenser_

_P.S. Lunick reminded me to tell you not to freeze to death. It would be very unfortunate if his dynamic duo became dynamic uno. Apparently it doesn't have the same ring to it. I said only if we were lucky would that happen._

I couldn't help but grin after reading Spenser's styler-mail, hiding my smile behind my hand as Alyssa and I went on our patrol.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked, peering over my shoulder to see what I was doing. "Oh, I see. It's Spenser. Solana has a crush on Spenser." She said in a sing-song voice.

"I don't," I said calmly, "Spenser and I have just known each other for a long time."

"And I bet'cha an early morning patrol that you guys are falling in lurve," she grinned, apparently not letting this go.

"I'll take that bet," I answered, shaking with her. There's was, however, one thing that made me not totally sure. The night before I had left for Wintown, I remember falling asleep and I could've sworn that Spenser picked me up and put me in my bed. And then I might've grabbed his hand, but it was all a blur to me. I was half-asleep. Was it possible that we had held hands?

I internally shrugged. There was nothing I could do about it now. "Oh, yeah, Alyssa, what's this about your sister and Melody's brother saving the world?"

"Oh, yeah, my sister's Kate, you know, the Top Ranger," Alyssa waved me off like it was no big deal.

"No way," I said incredulously, "Why is Fiore getting this big influx of celebrities all of a sudden? Siblings of people who saved the world and helped save the world and crap like that all seem to be pouring in."

"I am a celebrity, aren't I?" Alyssa said smugly.

I pouted a bit. "I'm a celebrity too."

"Oh, yeah," Alyssa replied, slightly put out, "That whole 'beating the Go-Rock Squad' thing kind of trumps my 'sister of the person who defeated Team Dim Sun'. I didn't even really do anything."

"Well, don't get discouraged," I pulled on one of her pigtails, causing her to glare at me, "You're still doing better than most people."

"But I wanna be a great Ranger," Alyssa frowned, "A really great one. Like a super great one."

"And you will," I answered, grinning, "It's only been two weeks. You'll get there. You're doing much better on your capture skills already."

Alyssa seemed to be cheered by this. "Okay," she grinned, "You're right. I'm being mopey about nothing." She looked down at her watch, then looked over at the Ranger base. "It's time to head back anyway. When is something gonna happen here? Patrols are booooooring." We started walking back.

"Don't wish too hard for anything," I warned, "Cause you never know what you're going to get."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alyssa waved me off, "Like I haven't heard that one before."

"I'm just saying," I raised my hands in surrender.

She stuck out her tongue at me, making a face.

"You look very mature right now," I commented.

"I am very mature."

"Not so much."

"I'm more mature than Melody," she argued back as we walked into the Wintown Ranger Base.

"Not really," I replied as I gave a wave to our Operator at the front desk and moved on to the Ranger quarters.

"You haven't even spent much time with Melody," she retorted, really getting into this now, "She is much less mature."

"I know this conversation is really important, but can we save it for another time," I said, looking around for Elita. Alyssa made a grumpy noise that reminded me of Lunick. I missed Lunick. And his grumpy noises.

I finally found Elita in the kitchen with a sandwich and bag of chips in front of her, reading the latest Almia Times. "Anything good in there?" I asked, snagging a chip.

"Hm," Elita remarked, doing nothing about my chip stealing. "Your sister and her boyfriend seem to be the darling couple of the Ranger organization." I guessed that she was directing this comment at Alyssa, seeing as I didn't have a sister.

Alyssa shrugged. "Yeah, Keith's cool."

"He was assigned to this Ranger base before he became a Top Ranger," Elita said absentmindedly. "Nice boy."

"I'll bet," I replied, moving on, "Uh, reporting back from patrol, Leader, and absolutely zero activity is going on. All's good."

"That can't be too exciting for our newbie, can it?" Elita remarked wryly, knowing the look on Alyssa's face without even looking.

Alyssa looked nervous at answering and I gave her a look to push her into talking. "No, m'am," she spit out finally.

"Please, Alyssa," Elita sighed, "I'm not that old. No more of the m'am."

"Yes, Leader," she replied hesitantly.

"Much better," Elita looked away from her paper for a second and smiled. "Now, I need to talk to Solana for a second, if you would please give us the room."

Alyssa nodded and left, and then it was just me and Elita. I promptly sat down next to her, flicking a glance at her sandwich. "What's in that?" I asked, motioning toward it.

Elita folded up her newspaper, focusing her attention on me now, I guess. "Roast beef and swiss," she answered, "You can have half if you want. I'm not going to eat it all."

I didn't need to be told twice. "Thanks, Elita," I replied, taking it, "I'm super hungry after that patrol." I took a bite, then looked at her curiously. "Is this about when I go back to Ringtown? Cause, honestly, it's not like I'm dying to go back or anything, but you said a week and it's been two. Any reason in particular?"

"I thought that it was important for Alyssa to really bond with another tough, female Ranger," Elita explained.

"Thanks for the compliment, but you fit those criteria as well," I answered, confused.

"But I'm the leader," Elita answered, "A Ranger has a different kind of relationship with their leader than with their fellow Rangers." I thought for a moment. Spenser and I had a pretty normal relationship. Except for the whole hand-holding thing. Somehow, I doubt that Elita and Silent Chris went around holding hands all over the place.

"You must be looking to train her to be leader when you have to leave," I answered, taking another bite of the sandwich. "I've heard rumors that the Ranger Union's been trying to call you up. Cause Alyssa's got great instincts. Plus, her sister's a Top Ranger, so she'll most likely get even better as she gets more experience. She-"

"Solana," she interrupted me, "You don't have to persuade me to do anything. I've already chosen my replacement."

"Oh," I said shortly, feeling slightly stupid, "Well, who is it?"

"It's you," she replied, giving me that mysterious smile of hers.

It took me a moment to understand what she was saying, but as soon as I realized what this meant, I swallowed my bite of sandwich and grinned. "So does this mean Spenser can't boss me around anymore?"


	6. Chapter 6

**So, I'd like to send out a big thank you to Crime Scene Fairy for giving me my first review! Whoot-whoot! *does happy I-got-a-review dance* Keep the reviews coming! It's so awesome to know that my story is appreciated. Yay! **

**So while things may be going well in Fiore, in Almia, there's a certain mushroom-haired boy who is experiencing a bit of a crisis…**

**Isaac**

The one time I actually took a break from my work long enough to go home and sleep there, instead of on the couch in office, I get woken up anyway. I'd ended up getting my own house in Pueltown a few years ago, but I barely even go there. I mean, I'm 21 years old, and I can hardly still live with my parents.

It started with a knock on the door. For a moment, I was in a flashback to before I had even gone to Ranger School, when it was Melody who used to knock on my door and wake me up every morning. But then I sleepily remembered that Melody was off being a Ranger in Fiore and didn't have time to beg me to play with her anymore.

Next it was the doorbell, and I couldn't ignore that for too long. I stuck my head under the pillow, swearing under my breath.

"Professor Isaac," I heard a voice call, and I realized if it was someone from Altru, I couldn't ignore them. I peeled back the covers slowly and got up out of bed, realizing with a certain level of stupidity that I was still in my lab coat.

"Yeah?" I said as I swung open the door, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

"Sir, there's been a situation at Altru and you weren't answering your phone," he said frantically, apparently afraid I was going to be mad.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket for a second, looked at it, then put it back. "Yeah, it's turned off."

"Um, I know it's early, but I thought you should know as soon as possible that there's been a break-in at Altru."

I was immediately awake. "In my office?"

"Yes, sir," he answered hesitantly.

I went back inside for a second to grab my shoes and then grabbed my keys, made sure I wasn't forgetting anything, and returned to the Altru worker outside. "Let's go."

***

Altru security was crawling all over the lobby of the building and I was sure the rest of the building as well. I found the head of security, who seemed to at least flinch when he saw me.

"I'm terribly sorry about this," he apologized right away.

"Just tell me what you know," I answered, trying not to show how freaked out I was.

"It was Meagan, sir."

I felt like I was punched in the gut. Meagan was my lab assistant. She had been working with me for the past two years. She was the best assistant I'd ever had- the only one that had really been able to keep up with me intellectually.

"What do you mean?" I asked, realizing it was the only thing I could get out.

"According to the security officer at the door, she came in saying she had some numbers to check for you. She took the elevator up and while she was up there, some pink-haired lady who kept flipping her hair came in with a Magmortar. It was chaos, sir. A few of my men were badly injured."

"Did you see her go out with this pink-haired lady?" I could barely believe what this guy was saying. How was this possible?

"Yes, Professor," the man answered, "I wouldn't make the assumption that this was Meagan unless I saw it."

"What did she take?"

"All the papers from your lab room. I also saw her with some computer disks and other equipment."

"She would take everything of importance," I sighed, hating the fact that I always seemed to get tricked. "Have you called the Ranger Union yet?"

"Yes," he replied, relieved that I had asked him a question he could give a positive answer to, "We could at least do that that right."

"Isaac!" I heard someone call behind me and I felt like a load was taken off my shoulders.

"Sven," I answered in relief, clasping his hand, "I'm so glad to see you. This whole thing has been so surreal."

"Well, Prof, I can take it from here," Sven grinned broadly, "Let me just take a quick look around and we'll get you to the Ranger Union. You'll be staying there for a while." I was about to object when he interrupted me with another grin. "For your own safety, Isaac. I know you don't like being baby-sat, but hopefully I can find someone cute enough for your liking. Maybe Rhythmi." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I scowled.

"I've already tried that, Sven, and let me remind you that it didn't end well," I said sourly.

"Oh, yeah, I _do_ remember Little Miss Sunshine bawling her eyes out for days," Sven smirked, "Maybe we should keep you two apart, at least for our sanity's sake. Let me just say, Rhythmi may not do it often, but when she does cry, it's like nothing I ever want to experience again."

I nodded mutely, not wanting to think about Rhythmi crying right now.

"Well, kid, I can see this talk is depressing you," Sven said, patting me on the back, "Let's move along. We can head to your lab first." We walked to the elevator and I entered my floor. As the doors closed, Sven starting talking again.

"I bet we'll catch these guys in no time," he said confidently, and although it was comforting, I doubted it. From what I'd seen, it looked like there was something more behind this. Let's just say that I had my suspicions.

"I think the pink-haired lady that was here before was Lavana," I said quietly, deciding to share these suspicions with Sven, no matter how crazy he might think I was.

Sven flicked me a side-glance, looking a little bit freaked out. "You sure know how to drop a bomb, Prof."

"The way that the guard described her," I answered, "And the fact that she had a Magmortar. You can't deny that there are similarities."

"Is there a reason she would want your research?" Sven asked, eyebrows drawn down seriously. Cause when he really got down to it, Sven was really one of the best guys to have in a pinch.

"If she was connected with Team Dim Sun," I replied, watching the floor numbers climb upward, "There's a possibility, yes."

Sven was still giving me that freaked-out side glance. "Do you want to share the results of this research and why Team Dim Sun might want it?"

"I don't want to repeat it 27 times, so let's save that for the Ranger Union when I can just say it once and get it over with," I replied evasively as the elevator doors opened. I walked out and Sven followed.

"Okay," he shrugged, "I guess that's cool."

_Nope, _I thought to myself grimly, _None of this is feeling even remotely cool right now. _I couldn't even begin to imagine right now what this all could mean for Almia and Fiore. If Team Dim Sun was back and had gotten their hands on my research... Let's just say nothing good could possibly come out of this.

**Rhythmi**

I was just getting up to relieve Linda's night shift when I passed by the Research Room. It should've been empty, seeing as it was too early for anyone to be up and about yet. Except there was a certain blonde mushroom-haired boy sitting exhaustedly in the corner, looking like he could fall asleep at any second, and yet not doing so.

My reaction was of mixed emotions, but finally my sympathy won out. He looked exhausted, and no matter the fact that I couldn't get over him, it wasn't his fault, really. Maybe a little bit.

"Isaac?" I called out warily.

His head jerked up, and his face lit up, just like it used to whenever he saw me. I used to wait for him every night outside his lab room, staying for even the few minutes I might get with him. Eventually, I just got tired of waiting. He was always so focused on his work, I felt like there's was no time for me. And that was the end of it.

"Hey Rhythmi," he said tiredly, smiling at me despite his exhaustion. I walked in the room hesitantly, wondering if this was awkward. It was a little bit, but I also was glad just to see him.

"What's going on?"

"All my research was stolen from my lab," he said quietly.

I couldn't help myself. I sat down next to him, deciding that Linda could wait. "That's terrible," I commented, watching his face carefully. He just seemed so… broken. The only time he had ever been like this was when he had found out that he was being tricked by Team Dim Sun and had been building a weapon of destruction. And let's just say that was a pretty dark time for him.

"The thing is, the person who stole it all was my own lab assistant. You'd think that a person couldn't get tricked this many times. You'd think that I would've learned my lesson by now." He smiled bitterly, flicking his eyes up at the ceiling.

I could see that he needed someone right now. He needed someone to tell him it wasn't his fault and that everything was going to be all right. Could I be that person?

"It's so frustrating to work so hard and have it all stolen from you and used for evil," he sighed, now just looking down at his hands, "Sometimes I wonder what good I actually do." I noticed that he wouldn't meet my eyes. I followed my instincts and just went for it.

"It's not your fault," I replied, smiling softly, "You can't blame yourself."

"I was too trusting. I always am," he still wouldn't look at me, and he was shaking his head, looking at the floor.

"I wouldn't want you any different," I didn't even think about it, just reached out and took his hand, holding it firmly. He was so surprised, his eyes shot up to meet mine. "It's who you are. It's who I fell in love with."

"Rhythmi, where the heck are you?" I heard Linda screech. I rolled my eyes, sending a look at Isaac, who actually grinned.

"I'll see you later, Isaac, okay?"

"Yeah, see you later, Rhythmi," he answered, sounding better. I nodded and let go of his hand, feeling his eyes following me out.

"Oh, and Isaac?" I said before leaving.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to go somewhere and get some sleep. I think you really need it."

Isaac nodded sheepishly and I left, feeling pretty happy overall. That is, until Linda called me again.

"Rhythmi, get your bubbly blonde butt up her so I can get some sleep!"

Yup, she's definitely cranky.


	7. Chapter 7

**CSF: Yeah, actually I didn't realize how much I liked Isaac and Rhythmi as a couple until I wrote that chapter. You can count on more of them! And of Sven, really. I kind of want to have a Sven/Wendy coupling too, but I didn't know if that would just be too much shipping. *shrug* We'll see how it goes!**

**Here's the next installment! The next couple chapters might take a little longer because I'm trying to work out exactly how I want the plot to go. I have the general idea, but not the specifics. Anyway, enjoy! And bring on the reviews! :)**

**Solana**

"You know what I need?" Alyssa asked me as she watched Plusle scamper ahead of us, off chasing Arceus knows what. We were on patrol again, this time up on the mountain instead in town. Ever since the Go-Rock Squad, Elita has us check in on the site of old base at least two or three times a week, more out of superstition than anything.

"No, Alyssa, I don't know. Tell me, what do you need?" I replied distractedly, recognizing the ruins of the base that Lunick and I infiltrated. I remember how much Spenser scared me by staying behind, but I also remember having to suck it up and stop Gordor. Wow, that all of a sudden seemed like a millennium ago. Funny how time flies.

"I really need a partner Pokemon," she answered, still watching Plusle.

"Why?" I grinned, "All they do is annoy you."

"Plai, plai," Plusle looked back at me angrily.

"Okay, Plusle, just kidding," I called back, knowing I would've gotten nowhere with my little red and yellow partner Pokemon.

I turned my attention back to Alyssa. "That's actually a decent idea. Except for the fact that you can't really just go out and pick a Pokemon at random. It has to pick you."

"So, is there any way I can work that?" Alyssa asked, squinting at me.

"I've heard of this place in Almia called Nabiki Beach. A lot of Rangers have met their partner Pokemon there. You could always go there and just hope a friendly Pokemon comes along."

"Yeah, that's a pretty sucky plan," Alyssa commented.

"Hey," I protested, punching her shoulder harder than I meant to.

"Ouch," she said with a sad face, "You punched me."

"Yeah, well, you dissed my plan."

"You know, when you become leader, you can't just go around punching people whenever you want."

"I'll be leader. I can do anything I want." I answered smugly.

"It will be a time of great sadness in Fiore when Solana finally become leader," Alyssa said with mock sorrow. "People walking around with black eyes and only some of their teeth- Ow! Stop punching me!"

"Than stop making fun of me," I answered, crossing my arms and frowning.

"I was just kidding, Solana," Alyssa replied, trying to stop herself from grinning, "I've heard of Nabiki Beach before. I lived not too far from it and it's where my sister got her first partner Pokemon. Actually, your idea is better than nothing at this point."

"We could probably connive the Dragonite Bus into dropping us outside the Vientown Ranger Base," I mused thoughtfully, "As long as Elita's okay with it."

"Then it's a date," Alyssa answered, winking at me, "Oh, wait, just kidding. That's what you want with Spenser. Ouch! Solana, I 'm not a punching bag!"

***

An hour later, after returning to the base and stopping to grab some lunch, Alyssa and I convinced Dragonite to take us to Vientown. "Can you come pick us up, in like, an hour?" I asked hopefully, and the Dragonite grunted.

"Plai, plai, plai," Plusle told me, which I think roughly translates to "he thinks you're a big pain in the ass."

"Yeah, that's not news," I answered, allowing my little yellow and red friend to climb up on my shoulder.

"Plai, plai," Plusle argued back and I sighed.

"I don't want to be nicer, Plusle. I'm a pain. It's who I am. If people don't like it, they're going to have to deal with it."

"Plai, plai, plai," Plusle said with a bit of a devious grin and jumped off my shoulder, just out of my reach.

"You're a pain, you know that, right?"

"What did Plusle say?" Alyssa asked innocently, and I couldn't help myself from turning red.

"Nothing," I mumbled. If Plusle thought that I was going to be nicer so that Spenser would do more than just like me, she was wrong. I wasn't going to change for anyone.

Plusle decided it was safe enough to come back and jumped on my shoulder again. "You keep this up and you can find yourself a new Ranger," I muttered darkly. We started walking toward Nabiki Beach, which wasn't far at all.

"Plai, plai," Plusle replied brightly, which was something along the lines of "I'm so lovable, that won't be hard at all."

"Until you open your mouth," I retorted, and Alyssa shot me a look of confusion.

"I was talking to Plusle," I answered, pointing to the Pokemon on my shoulder.

"Oh," Alyssa looked confused, "Will I be able to do that with my partner too?"

"After a while of knowing it," I shrugged, "Although I kinda wish I couldn't understand Plusle."

Plusle stuck her tongue out at me, making a face. "Yeah, keep your face that way and you'll start looking like Minun."

Plusle immediately stopped. Although she and Minun were best friends, she considered herself to be superior in many ways, including looks.

We turned the corner and Nabiki Beach came into view. "Okay, now what do we do?" Alyssa said as she went down the steps and stood in the middle of the beach.

"I don't know. I guess just wait," I answered, sitting down on the sand. Alyssa joined me and started talking about what kind of Pokemon she wanted for her partner. We didn't have to wait long.

All of a sudden, I heard commotion in the forest behind us. "What the heck is going on?" Alyssa asked as she turned to stare. Out from the forest came a crazed Chatot being chased by three angry-looking Spearow.

"Is it just me, or does that Chatot not look normal?"

Alyssa turned to me and nodded, "Yeah, it's flying all crazy. Maybe it's hurt."

The group of Pokemon was flying our way and I nudged Alyssa. "Well, here's your chance. Go get 'em."

Alyssa didn't look thrilled. "Uh, maybe I should wait for a better Pokemon."

"Alyssa, go rescue the darn thing," I answered, "Before it gets itself killed."

"Okay," she nodded, fiddling with the styler on her hand and running off to catch the angry Spearow and calm the Chatot.

I looked over at Plusle. "At least it wasn't a Caterpie."

"Plai, plai," she replied scornfully. What was she talking about? She had it all wrong. She thinks that I'm lucky to have her?

"No way," I retorted, pointing at Plusle, "You are lucky to have me, buddy. That Houndoom would've eaten your butt if I hadn't saved you."

"Plai, plai, plai."

"I so could've beaten the Go-Rock Squad without you. You weren't even effective against that Pupitar that Billy had."

"Plai, plai."

"Okay, so you were half-way useful against Suicune."

"PLAI!"

"Okay, so you were super-effective, don't freak out on me."

"I'm back," Alyssa announced. I had to duck down immediately, seeing as the Chatot almost flew into me.

"Control that thing, would you?" I yelled as it clumsily clipped a foot on the ground and flipped over into a somersault.

"He has issues with flying," Alyssa protested, "It's not my fault."

"Did you capture it?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "And he wouldn't go away when I released him. He's not hurt or anything, so I don't know why he's so klutzy."

"Tell it to heel or something cause it's gonna end up flying into a tree and killing itself in a second," I yelped as it almost had a hit-and-run collision with Plusle.

"Okay, um, Chatot, come here," Alyssa called. The Chatot paused for a moment, squawked, and then clumsily made its way over to Alyssa.

The humor of the situation suddenly struck me as hilarious. "Oh my Suicune, you have a crazy Chatot for a partner now, don't you?"

Alyssa frowned. "He's not crazy."

"He's the craziest damn thing I've ever seen in my life," I replied, grinning broadly.

"He's just a little klutzy," she patted Chatot on the head, smiling at it. It hopped up and down in happiness, looking ridiculous.

"Oh, I do have a crazy Chatot for a partner, don't I?" Alyssa wailed, and I tried to stop grinning.

"Like I said to Plusle, at least it's not a Caterpie or something."

"Alyssa, it that you?" I heard a voice coming from the path to Vientown. Alyssa's head shot up immediately, so she must have recognized the voice.

"Big sis!" Alyssa's concerns about her partner were forgotten as she ran toward who must have been her older sister, and as I got a closer look, I saw a face that I had seen more than a few times on the front page of the Almia Times.

"Big sis, I can't believe you're here. What are you doing here?"

"I just had to talk to Barlow about a few things. I thought I saw you walking to Nabiki Beach through the window of the base, so I just checked to see if it really was you. I haven't seen you in so long! What's it like to be a Ranger in Fiore?"

"It's great! I want you to meet someone, sis." She pulled her big sister over to be and did the introductions. "Kate, this is Solana. She used to be a Vientown Ranger, but now she's training to be the Wintown leader after Elita leaves. Solana, this is Kate, my big sister."

"It's great to finally meet you," I grinned, shaking Kate's hand, "Alyssa talks about you all the time."

"Same here," Kate smiled warmly, "I've heard about you from the letters she writes me."

Chatot chose that particular moment to try to clumsily flap over to Kate, but overshot us all by a mile. "What the heck was that?" Kate ducked, craning her head to see what it was.

"Oh, Arceus, not again," Alyssa shook her head, chasing after the crazy bird Pokemon. This left Kate and I semi-alone.

"It's her new partner Pokemon," I grinned at Kate, but she looked strangely serious.

"Listen, Solana," Kate hesitated, keeping an eye on her sister, "Things are… happening. Things that the Ranger Union alone isn't going to be able to control. There's going to be some trouble coming up soon, and I really, really need you to promise me to watch over my little sister."

This conversation was suddenly getting very serious. What was Kate hinting at? Was there something going on in Almia that the Fiore Rangers didn't know about? "Yeah," I nodded, "I'll look after her. I would even if you didn't ask me to."

"There's going to be a meeting in the next few days, and it will all be explained then, but for now, I actually have something to give you." Kate reached into a small bag she had been carrying. "I was going to have Sven give it to you later, but I'd rather do it in person. I've been keeping it with me to keep it safe."

I was slightly confused because I hadn't heard anything about a meeting, but I decided to go along with it. She handed me what looked like a jazzed-up styler. "It's a Vatonage styler," she said, handing it to me, "There's only two of them ever made, including yours. They're not easy to make, but I convinced the Ranger Union to make a second to give to you."

"What does it do?" I asked, taking it from her, but eyeing it a bit cautiously. I thought I remembered something about it being the kind of styler Kate needed to capture the Darkrai and save Almia. I wasn't sure why I would need it now.

"It will capture any Pokemon, no matter what kind of… influence they are under," Kate explained, and I wondered if she was being intentionally vague. "The whole situation will be explained in a few days, but for now just know that this styler can do things that regular stylers can't."

"Why are you giving it to me?" I asked, still confused as to what all this meant. "I mean, I'm not even a leader yet."

"Yet," Kate grinned, "Honestly, from what Alyssa's told me, you can be trusted. Fiore is going to need one of these stylers close to home if trouble does end up coming. Also, and this may be a little bit selfish on my part, but I want to put the power near my little sis. If this can help you protect her in any way, I'll be happy."

"I know what you mean," I answered, thinking of all the people I wished I could protect, even though many of them didn't need it. Sometimes I wished I could just lock Spenser in a closet for a few weeks, at the rate he gets hurt. Lunick too.

"I gotta head back to the Union now, but I'm really glad I got to talk to you," Kate zipped back up her bag and waved to her sister. "I'll see you later, Alyssa."

Alyssa had managed to calm Chatot enough to get it to rest on her shoulder. "Bye, big sis!" She called out, managing to wave back without disrupting Chatot.

Kate left and then it was just me, Alyssa, Plusle, and Alyssa's crazy Chatot. Alyssa looked over at me curiously. "What'cha got there?" She asked, eyeing my Vatonage styler.

"Solana got a new toy," I grinned at her, waving the styler in front of her face.

"Plai, plai," Plusle commented dryly.

"I happen to like speaking in third person, thank you very much," I shot a look at Plusle, "And I don't really like you complaining about it."

"I want that new toy," Alyssa frowned.

"Too bad," I smiled sweetly at her, "Now let's get back to base before Chatot crashes into anything else."

"Solana has no love for you, does she?" Alyssa crooned at her new partner.

"Do you know how much Elita's gonna love that thing flying all over her base?" I asked, pointing at Chatot.

"She'll have to deal with it," Alyssa shot back.

"But I won't," I answered with an evil smile, "Oh, I just can't wait to be leader."


	8. Chapter 8

**There's a new character in this chapter! And it is… drum roll, please… Lucy! Now, Lucy isn't actually mine, unfortunately for me. She belongs to my new favorite author Crime Scene Fairy, who is generously letting me use her. I think she's an awesome counterpart for Joel and if you want to read more about them, check out Crime Scene Fairy's fic Of Rangers and Ridicule. I try to do Lucy justice here, but she's even better in CSF's story. So go read it!**

**Lucy's a Top Ranger of the Ranger Union and is assigned to Fiore, which means she mostly hangs around Fall City because it's the most central base. Hence, she has plenty of time to verbally spar with Joel. :) Enjoy! **

**Cameron**

When I woke up today, it seemed like any other day here in sunny Summerland. You wouldn't think it was possible that things could escalate so quickly.

It started with a series of loud thuds. I was playing cards with Leilani and Percy (Go Fish, actually) when we all heard it. I paused our game for a second. "Do you hear that?" I asked them both.

Leilani nodded, looking concerned. "Yeah, Leader. Want me to go check it out?"

I sighed. I kind of wanted to finish our card game. It was my turn and I knew Percy had the queen I was looking for, but I guess my victory would have to wait. "Let's both go," I answered, placing my cards facedown on the table.

"I'll just wait for you here," Percy said, looking all too innocent.

I was about to leave, but then did a double take. "I don't think so, buddy. I don't trust you alone with our cards sitting right there." I grabbed him out of his chair and he grumbled as he followed Leilani and me out.

I stepped outside and didn't see anything. It seemed like everything was fine, except for the thumps I could hear. "I think it's coming from the jungle," Leilani pointed out, and I nodded, starting to walk toward the sound. People were starting to come out of their houses and look around, as curious as we were as to what was going on.

"Everyone, there's no need to worry," I called out, doing my duty as a Ranger Leader to put the townspeople at ease. "We'll go into the jungle and find out whatever's causing that noise. Don't panic." I could almost appreciate the irony of what happened next.

The next sound was an eruption of water and the loud, fiercest, most goddamn bad-ass-est sound I have probably ever heard in my life. I turned just in time to see the scariest Gyarados ever burst from the sea, shaking its huge head and roaring.

Maybe if it was just a Gyarados, I could deal with it, but in the direction of the beach, I heard clacking sounds and saw masses of Krabby and Kingler swarming the beach. The Wingull in the air around us started to fly crazily, sometimes aggressively dive-bombing at the townspeople.

"Percy, tell our Operator to send a message to the other Fiore bases requesting aid," I ordered calmly and Percy took off. "Leilani, get everyone to the Ranger Base. It'll be the safest there. Once that's done, work on calming down these Pokemon."

"Yes, Leader," she answered, but then hesitated, "Sir, what about you?"

I turned toward the looming Gyarados grimly. "I'll take care of this guy," I replied, wondering why the heck I had to be the leader at this moment. I activated my styler and the Gyarados roared at me, as if daring me to come any closer. "C'mon, ya overgrown sea worm! You wanna piece of this?" I yelled, deciding that taunting it from afar was definitely the funnest way to do this. "Your daddy was a Feebas and your momma was a Magikarp with bad breath and a funny-looking face. Bring it, you toothless pansy!"

The Gyarados roared with rage and attacked. I stood my ground and engaged the furious Pokemon, praying to any legendary that would listen for aid to come. Cause honestly, who knew how widespread this could be?

**Spenser**

_Seems like we've moved on from letters to styler-mail. Do you remember when I sent you all those letters? Jeez, I thought you were so cool from your letters. Just goes to show how different people are when you actually meet them. Anyway, I'm still learning to be a leader from Elita. It's a lot of ordering people around and looking cool. I think I can manage. But, honestly, this is just crazy. Me, a leader?!?!?!? I never would've dreamed of it. I didn't even go to Ranger School. Seriously, I hope Elita doesn't regret this later. She says that I have to pass the test soon. Well, doesn't that seem ominous? It's scheduled for sometime in the next few days. _

_Well, I gotta go, cause if I don't I think Freddie might explode with impatience. He does that a lot. However, I have trained him well. Sometimes I can get him to make me eggs and pancakes in the morning. Now that I'm going to be the next leader, everyone seems to want to suck up to me more. It's great! Well, I think Freddie just started freaking. Gotta go on patrol. Bye!_

_Your favorite Leader-to-be,_

_Solana _

I was already writing my reply in my head when Lunick and Melody burst in. Melody was holding her arm, tears fresh in her eyes. I moved quickly, rushing to see what was wrong.

"Call the doctor," Lunick called to our Operator, who obliged by picking up the phone and dialing.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at her arm. There was nothing apparently wrong with it on the outside, but she was obviously in pain.

"We were finding a Pokemon for one of the townspeople deep in Lyra Forest when Melody accidently stepped on a Raticate's tail and it got really pissed. It slammed into her before I even knew what had happened and she landed weird on her arm. I think her wrist may be sprained." Lunick explained, helping Melody sit of the couch.

"Leader, I'm sorry I didn't discern the Raticate's long appendage in my path of travel before I accidently trod upon it," Melody apologized in a rush, but all I really heard was the first three or so words. Melody was no longer shy around us, apparently. I had been hoping that that this was just a phase, but she seemed to be sticking with the long words and weird way of speaking.

"It's fine, Melody, let's just make sure you're going to be okay," I placed her arm gingerly on the stack of pillows I had made for it.

"Sir, the doctor is on his way," the Operator informed me, "but I'm also receiving a Code Red from Summerland. The Pokemon are going wild. Leader Cameron is requesting immediate back-up."

"Lunick, was everything else out there okay?" I asked, making sure we had taken care of our own.

"Yeah," Lunick answered, his face anxious, "Everything's fine. But, if there's some kind of an attack in Summerland…" He trailed off, and I was unsure what he was going to finish the sentence with, but I knew it probably wasn't good.

"Stay here with Melody," I told him, calling to my Fearow.

"But, Leader, I want to-"

"I need you to stay here," I cut him off, but then softened when I saw the look on his face, "Look, if Melody's hurt, I need someone else to be here in case something happens. I need you here."

Lunick nodded, respecting my logic at least. I could sense that inside he was fuming, but I couldn't worry myself with his hurt feelings at the moment. The making-up would have to wait until after. Fearow followed me outside and I took a deep breath, getting ready to face whatever chaos was waiting for me. "Alright, Fearow, let's head to Summerland."

**Joel**

The Dragonite Bus dropped me and Aria off just outside the Summerland base and then got the hell out of dodge. I didn't blame it. It was chaos.

The most obvious thing that caught my eye was the giant Gyarados that Cameron was battling. And when I say battling, I mean battling. The poor guy looked like he was about to collapse. "Aria, you help out Leilani and Percy capture these other Pokemon." Aria looked like she was going to protest, but I didn't give her any time and started running for Cameron. I knew she thought herself better than most people and it would be hard for her ego to accept just helping out. It would be good for her. I was running for Cameron when I saw someone else running for him at the same time.

"Hey, Lucy, don't even think about it!" I yelled, furious. She was running along a perpendicular boardwalk to mine and was heading straight for the Gyarados. I started outright sprinting. No way is she going to steal my mission, even if she is a Top Ranger.

We almost collided at the intersection and I stepped in front of her, stopping her from going any farther. "What do you mean, 'don't even think about it'?" She jabbed me in the chest with her finger. "You are ridiculous. I was running toward the Gyarados first."

"No way," I shot back, "I was going to capture that Gyarados. Besides, Gyarados is a water type and your Shieldon wouldn't be very effective. I bet you couldn't even get three loops around it." Shieldon made an angry sounding noise from behind Lucy and seemed to be growling at me.

"Gyarados is part flying too, idiot," Lucy answered hotly, her brown eyes lit with a spark of anger, "And like Dodrio would be so much better? Have you ever seen them agree on anything? They spend half the time arguing about which head is the smartest."

I turned to Dodrio beside me. "You gonna take that?" All three of its head began to squawk at once and I couldn't understand what any of them were saying. Lucy shot me an amused look, as if this just furthered her point.

"Could one of you guys get over yourselves and come help me?" Cameron yelled from twenty feet away. Lucy eyed me for a moment, daring me to move. I didn't, keeping myself between her and the Gyarados.

Lucy looked at me calculatingly for a second, eyes narrowed. I could see that she was thinking up of some sort of scheme, but I couldn't tell what. Then she gasped, her face filled with worry. "Oh no, Cameron!"

Of course, being the stupid, moronic idiot I was, I turned my head to see what she was talking about and she darted right by me. Darn her for being so small. "Lucy, get back here!" I yelled, chasing after her.

"Haha," she laughed, staying right out of my reach, "Joel, you are such a moron."

I had almost caught up to her when the Gyarados's Dragon Rage hit the boardwalk in front of us, shattering a section. We both were thrown over to the other side in a heap. "Joel, geroff me," Lucy yelled as we tried to disentangle ourselves, "Ow, your elbow is digging into my side."

"I'm trying," I snapped, "If you hadn't taken off when I wasn't looking, we wouldn't have to deal with this."

"Well, if you had just gotten out of the way," Lucy tried to push me away as I struggled to get up, "Ouch, can you get off me without flattening me, Snorlax? Someone's been going heavy on the donuts and cookies lately. And the fact that you ride that Dodrio everywhere cannot be good for your health."

We finally got untangled and I was about to send back a scathing retort when the Gyarados readied another Dragon Rage. "Lucy, move," I yelled at her, and the two of us barely missed being fried. The boardwalk we had been standing on a few seconds ago had been turned into wreckage.

"Stupid worm," Cameron shook a fist at it, "Why do you have to go around blasting things that don't belong to you?!"

It roared in reply and I stepped up, patting Cameron on the back. "I'll take it from here," I told him, "You go check on your Rangers and protect the rest of the town."

"That Gyarados," Cameron panted, bending over to catch his breath, "It keeps avoiding being captured. A few times I thought I had it, but my capturing didn't calm it down at all. I don't know what's going on, but it can't be good."

I was worried, but I had to see this for myself. "I'll see what I can do," I answered, jaw set. I thought I was in the clear until Lucy stepped up beside me, her face determined.

"I don't think so, hotshot-" she started to argue, but then the whole boardwalk started to reverberate. Lucy grabbed onto my arm to steady herself when another, equal-sized Gyarados burst out of the water, looking just as pissed off as the first. Lucy grinned, then realized she was still holding onto my arm and let go, blushing the tiniest bit.

"Well, this fixes our problems," I couldn't help but smile.

Cameron patted my back, sadly shaking his head, "Not even remotely, man." When he saw my face get angry, he grinned and took off. "See ya!"

I looked over at Lucy, who looked just as determined as I did. "You ready?"

She activated her styler, grinning at me. "Course I am. Let's show this pair of idiots that even a moron like yourself can beat one. Even though I'm probably gonna have to save your butt a few times anyway."

I rolled my eyes, but decided that sometimes her tough talk actually had its charm, although I would never, ever tell her that in my life. "Luce, just try not to get yourself killed," I retorted wryly.

"Right back at ya," she answered, and we both braced ourselves as the two Gyarados approached.


	9. Chapter 9

**Once again, Lucy's not only awesome, but belongs to Crime Scene Fairy, who's writing a second fanfic on Lucy and Joel that I can't wait for! So watch for it! **

**Sorry for the cliffhanger on the last chapter! However, I must not be all that sorry because I have another one in this chapter. :) ****Honestly, it's just so much fun to watch people squirm. I know, I'm heartless. They're just so much fun!**

**Actually, these last two chapters have been so much fun to write. I love having my characters get the crap (nearly) beaten out of them. Action is awesome. :) **

**Enjoy! **

**Spenser**

The first thing that I saw when I arrived on Fearow was two Gyarados fighting… wait… was that Joel and Lucy? No way. Those two couldn't be working together. I mean, they weren't even arguing. Okay, just kidding, I think Lucy just took a swing at Joel.

But for the most part, those two seemed to be doing just fine, so my eyes moved onward until I spotted Cameron not too far away. He would put me to some use. I made my way over to him as quickly as I could, dodging some rogue Pokemon. "Reporting for duty, Leader," I ran up to him, saluting sharply.

He looked relieved. "Thank Arceus, Spense, we could use you," he replied tiredly, looking exhausted.

"No problem, buddy," I replied, grinning easily, "What do you want me to do?"

"Solana went running into the jungle looking for the source of this," he pointed vaguely toward the middle of the jungle, "I usually have a buddies system going on whenever any of my Rangers go into the jungle. Can you help her?"

"Solana's here?" I asked, every nerve tingling. Then I felt stupid for asking. Of course she was here. Where there was danger, there was Solana. "Yeah, of course, Cam. We'll find the source of this."

"Spenser," Cameron stopped me before I left, "This isn't normal. The Pokemon aren't responding to being captured. There'll be time for speculation after we stop this, but just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. This reminds me of the Team Dim Sun problem in Almia with the Gigaremos, but a hundred times worse. Just be careful."

"I know, you, Joel, and 'Lita would be lost without me," I joked in reply, but it was lost on Cameron, who just looked concerned. I shrugged and took off toward the jungle.

I have to say, I never really liked the Summerland jungle. Whenever Cameron needed an extra Ranger or two, I usually sent Solana and Lunick. It was humid and hot and sticky… and let's just say I was particular about my weather. Plus, the fact that it was so much quieter than the chaos going on in the beach gave it a bit of a creepy sense. I kept a wary eye out and kept walking, attempting to contact Solana via styler.

"Voicemail, voicemail. Solana, where are you?"

There was no reply. I tried again. "Solana? Are you there? Hello? Answer me, please?" I finally just yelled into it, knowing that Solana sometimes just ignored me. "Solana!"

"Yes, I'm here, Spenser," Solana snapped at me, but I could hear a tiny bit of a smile in her voice, "Jeez, you'd think I was in danger of dying or something."

A rush of relief flooded through me. "Well, you could've been," I smart-mouthed, knowing she wouldn't like it, "Where are you?"

"I'm just following the thumping sounds that Cameron heard just before this chaos started. Except they keep moving and I keep walking in circles. It's so frustrating."

"Oh, well I'm just below the entrance to the relic," I replied, looking around at the scenery. There was the base of a cliff behind me and an open space in front of me with trees at the edge. There were no Pokemon in sight, which freaked me out. There usually were, at least the last time I had been here, which I think was with Joel when we took the Relic challenge.

Then, I heard loud thumping that I hadn't recognized before when I had been too worried about Solana. "Uh, I think that noise is right near me," I said hesitantly. Yeah, it was definitely getting louder. A lot louder. Oh, Arceus. Something was crashing through the trees.

"Solana, you're not running toward me right now, are you?" I asked hopefully.

"I don't think so," Solana replied, sounding confused and a tiny bit worried, "I'm not really too close to the Relic."

"Yeah, I didn't think you had gained that much weight while you were gone," I muttered under my breath.

"What did you say?"

At that moment, two enormous Tyranitar came sliding into my clearing and I dove out the way just in time as they slammed in the cliff base behind me. Holy Suicune! If I hadn't moved, I would've been literally between a rock and a hard place.

"Spenser, are you okay?" I heard Solana's voice come through my styler.

"Um, two battling Tyranitar just almost crushed me," I said shakily, "So yeah, I'm doing fine."

"It must be a territorial battle," Solana explained, sounding too calm for my liking, "Believe me, once they are engaged in a territorial battle, almost nothing will distract them. Just stay calm and get out of their way until I can get there. Two against two are better odds than two against one."

I had no problem with what Solana was saying. "And if these guys were fighting before all the other Pokemon went crazy, they could be causing it in some indirect way."

"As much as it's a spotty theory, I'll go with anything at this point," Solana admitted. "Besides, I was thinking the same thing."

The two Tyranitar backed away from each other, spitting with anger. "You know, I've been thinking, why can't it ever be two raging Caterpie? Why do angry Pokemon always have to be so damn big?" I complained, not moving from my spot.

"Cause the world hates you, Spenser," Solana responded dryly.

"I'm starting to think so," I answered, tentatively taking a step back. _Crack. _I stepped on a twig.

"Yeah, the world definitely hates me," I said grimly as the two Tyranitar turned their heads toward me almost curiously.

"What happened?"

"I thought you said nothing would distract them," I said wildly, my voice cracking into a higher pitch at the end.

"What did you do, Spenser?" Her voice almost sounded accusing, as if I purposefully attracted attention to myself.

"I stepped on a twig! By accident!" I protested at her accusing tone. The Tyranitar on the right roared and powered up a Hyper Beam, sending it in my direction. I rolled out of the way, activating my styler. "You better be hauling ass right now, Solana!"

I heard Solana huffing and puffing on the other end of our styler connection. "Yes, Leader, currently hauling ass."

**Lucy**

"Is it just me or is this just not working?" Joel yelled at me, pushing down my head and ducking as a Hyper Beam shot over our heads, exploding in the water behind us. It was so close, I could feel the heat.

"Well, I know why you would think it could be just you, seeing as you're not the brightest bulb, but in this situation you're right," I replied, eyeing my Gyarados as it glared at me.

"Arceus, Lucy, you really know how to piss me off," he answered exasperatedly.

"It's a special skill," I managed a grin, waiting for a chance to fit in a capture. Joel was right. Several times we had made the capture, but the Gyarados had not responded. We were fighting a losing battle no matter what we did. But what else could we do? We were the only thing that was stopping the Gyarados from destroying the whole community.

Joel's Gyarados lunged at me, but Shieldon used its Poke Assist, throwing a ball of energy at the Gyarados which caused it to stop its attack abruptly. "Shieldon, you should've saved that for our Gyarados," I complained, "Now we wasted it."

"Thanks, Shieldon," Joel smirked at me, then went to work capturing the Gyarados, seeing as it now couldn't attack.

"Yeah, well, if you could take care of your own Gyarados, Shieldon wouldn't have to cover for you," I glared at him.

"Got it!" Joel yelled exuberantly and I saw his styler acknowledge the capture. The Gyarados apparently had a different idea. It slammed its head down inches to the right of Joel, who just narrowly missed being hit as I pulled him back, surprised at my own strength. We landed in a heap, not for the first time today.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Joel said simply, managing to untangle himself with as lot less fuss than last time. He stood up, offering me a hand and I took it.

"Yeah, pretty much," I replied, meeting his eyes and realizing that we had actually just agreed on something.

He shrugged, facing the Gyarados again. "Might as well go down fighting," he smiled and I felt this weird feeling, like I respected and even admired his calmness. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I didn't want to make this soppy.

That's when I saw the two Staraptor approaching from the sky.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry about the delay, which is due to a combination of school midterms, writer's block, and my new obsession with the TV show Party of Five. But, yeah, now I'm back with the next chapter. Yay! Have fun! I know I do!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the Ranger characters. Lucy belongs to Crime Scene Fairy. **

**Now back to the action!**

**Joel**

The Staraptor on the right peeled off and headed straight for the two Gyarados, immediately attracting their attention. As they turned, one of them lashed its tail angrily, whacking the crap out of Lucy and sending her flying into the water.

"Lucy!" I yelled, diving in after her without a second thought and stroking toward where I had seen her thrown. The waves were choppy from the angry Gyarados and I was swallowing salt water every other breath. I started to panic as couldn't see her bobbing figure anywhere on the surface and was about to dive under to start looking for her when she popped up beside me, spewing water everywhere and coughing.

"Arceus, Lucy, could you almost die any more times?" I cracked, covering up my anxiety. She managed to stop coughing and send me an annoyed look.

"I don't do it on purpose," she answered, pushing her dark red hair out of her face. We had almost ended an argument on our own when Lucy ruined it. "You look ridiculous swimming with your glasses on," she grinned.

"Sorry, I didn't have time to take them off between fighting an angry Gyarados and diving into the water to save your butt," I snapped, realizing she knew exactly how to push my buttons.

"It's not like I needed saving," she shot back. Our argument was cut short as our shirt collars were both grabbed by the talons of a Staraptor. There was only one person I knew who trained their Staraptor to be that skillful.

"Wendy!" I heard Lucy say happily. The Staraptor had to work at it, but managed to carry us back to where we had fought the Gyarados before.

"Sven says hi," she grinned back at Lucy as the Staraptor set us back down on the boardwalk, "He wishes he could've come, but he's on a mission with Keith." I squeezed some of the water out of my uniform, frowning at the fact that I was so soaked. Did Lucy honestly have to almost drown? She always managed to get into the most inconvenient situations.

"Sven has a message for you too," Wendy said to me as she climbed off her Staraptor.

"Lemme guess," I rolled my eyes, "Something about how if I even say one wrong word toward Lucy, he'll sick his Luxray on me." Apparently Sven was very protective of Lucy. I had to learn that the hard way.

"Actually, this time he said that he'll break every bone in your body, drop you in the Haruba Desert and leave you there for a week or so, and then sick his Luxray on you," Wendy replied with a hint of laughter. Lucy's smirk didn't escape me either. It's not like she didn't give as much as she got.

"A bit over the top much?" I asked sourly, knowing that Lucy did nothing to discourage this.

"Not for Sven," Wendy replied seriously, "Believe me. He's done worse."

I turned my attention back to the Gyarados only to find that they had stopped their rampaging. Whoever was on the other Staraptor had calmed them and was about to set them free. I turned to Wendy, stunned. "What- Who-"

"What he means is who managed to calm those Gyarados down and how did they do it?" Lucy filled in for me, seemingly amused.

"It's Kate," Wendy answered, smiling at my astonishment, "It's because of her Vatonage styler. Because of what is going on here, her styler works where others don't."

I did a face-palm. "Honestly?"

"He's mad because we've been spending the past twenty minutes trying to capture those Gyarados," Lucy explained to Wendy, taking a certain amount of pleasure from the fact that I was so emotional about this, "When Kate just captured them in, like, two minutes all because she had the right styler."

"Ah," Wendy nodded mockingly, "I can see how that might be frustrating."

"You guys are gonna kill me," I moaned.

**Solana**

I was now in a full out sprint to get to Spenser in time. Our connection between our stylers was still live, so I could hear each near miss on the other end. "Spenser, I didn't realize you had such a dirty mouth," I mentioned, grinning despite the situation.

"Yeah, well, just because I'm a leader doesn't mean I'm a saint," he replied grimly, which was followed by yet another curse. "These things are ridiculous. I never want to see another Tyranitar as long as I live. Where are you anyway? Every second I fight these things is another year off my life."

"I told you I was hauling ass," I retorted, ducking under a tree.

Spenser hesitated and I recognized when he was about to make a really stupid, sacrificial move. "Don't even speak," I warned him, "You're going to say something stupid. I know it."

"No, I'm not," Spenser protested, panting, "This is a carefully thought-up plan." I heard the sound of a tree being uprooted both in the distance and through the styler and I flinched.

"What the heck was that?"

"Listen, Solana," he sounded serious now and I would've groaned had I not known he would yell at me for it, "My styler isn't capturing these things. You coming here wouldn't do either of us any good. Go back to the town and see if anyone's found out how to capture these Pokemon. I can last another ten minutes."

"Spenser, I leave you there another ten minutes and you die," I hissed back at him, "No way is that going to happen."

"You come here and we both die," he snapped and I could hear the frustration in his voice, "How does that sound to you? We can't capture these guys with the stylers we have."

Kate's words ran through my mind. _This styler will capture any Pokemon, no matter what kind of… influence they are under. _The Vatonage styler must be the key. "I think I might know how to fix this," I answered, looking at the styler in a new light.

"Solana, I'm serious, unless you're 100% sure, go back and see if Cameron found anything out-"

I interrupted him before he spent any more time saying stupid things. "Spense, don't waste your breath. I'll be there in two seconds."

He might've said something in return, but I didn't hear it because I ended the connection between our stylers just as I burst through the tree line. I barely even recognized the clearing anymore. Let me just say, Tyranitars are destructive creatures.

And Spenser looked exhausted. I don't care what he said, he wouldn't have lasted ten more minutes. "Hey, Leader," I grinned as I ran past him to have my attempt at capturing the two huge Pokemon, "Long time no see." I did happen to see the face he made at me, which made him look not quite as mature as his age would suggest.

I stopped short of the two Tyranitar, intimidated by their size for a moment. "I'm surprised you lasted the five minutes you did," I said back to Spenser, who had stepped up beside me.

"Well, gee, Solana, I'm glad you have so much confidence in me," he replied dryly, "How do I fit in this plan of yours?"

"Just distract them, I don't know," I waved a hand at him wildly. The Tyranitar on the left shot a Hyper Beam at me and I dove to the side, deciding that now was a good time to get down to business.

"That tells me a lot," Spenser grumbled, entering the fray as well. From then on, I kind of lost tabs on him. I concentrated mainly on saving my own life and capturing these crazy Pokemon. It wasn't that I didn't care about Spenser, I just didn't have the extra attention to worry about him. Besides, he wasn't Ringtown leader for nothing. He could take care of himself.

I captured the first Tyranitar about five minutes in and as my styler acknowledged the capture, I almost held my breath, praying for this to work. Luckily, it did. The Tyranitar was subdued and I went after the next with a vengeance, ecstatic that my idea worked. Thank you, Kate. I think she was honestly my new favorite person.

Finally, I captured the next one and released first one, and then the next a few minutes later. The last thing we needed was for them to see each other right away and get in another territorial battle. I think Spenser must cry if that happened. He may become physiologically damaged if he ever sees a Tyranitar again. I know that look on his face.

He just looked at me and I could tell the question he was going to ask. "It's because of my Vatonage styler. Kate gave me one a day or two ago." He apparently had no reply for this and just stood there looking stunned.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled. "I thought we had stopped this," I frowned, grabbing onto a nearby tree to keep my balance. All of a sudden, it got really dark. I grabbed on tighter to the tree, feeling more terrible than I had ever felt in my life. There was no word for it, only a vague feeling that I was stuck in a nightmare that I couldn't escape from.

"Spenser, what is going on?" I yelled, barely opening my tightly-closed eyes.

"I have an idea," he replied grimly, "But you're not gonna like it."

**Wendy**

Kate landed her Staraptor next to mine, grinning as she jumped off. "Hey, guys! Joel, Luce, good to see you again," she greeted them sunnily, apparently not phased by the two gigantic Gyarados she had just captured. She had met Joel and Lucy more than a few times through our monthly meetings at the Ranger Union.

"Good to see you too, Kate," Lucy grinned, "and just in time too. You sure know how to make an entrance."

"Just glad I could help," Kate grinned her aw-shucks grin she saved for thank yous, "Is my sister here?"

"I don't think so," Lucy replied, "At least, I haven't seen her. But then again, Joel and I were a little bit preoccupied." She smiled sweetly at Joel and he made a face back at her. I had to say that as much as Sven wasn't happy about Joel hanging around Lucy, they were pretty entertaining. I had my theories about their relationship.

"I'll ask Elita," Kate nodded, scanning the town for the Wintown leader. But then something stopped everyone from worrying about finding Elita.

Lucy saw it first. "Guys, what is that?" she asked, pointing in the distance. The four of us looked toward the jungle to see a ball of darkness slowly growing. My Staraptor started getting restless, flapping its wings and seeming unable to stay calm. I turned my head sharply to see Kate's face turn white.

"Kate, listen, it'll be fine," I grabbed her shoulders, keeping her focused on me. I turned back around to see the globe of darkness covering the jungle, but not the town. It had stopped expanding by now. We were okay.

"Look, it's not even going to affect us," I smiled at her hopefully, "You'll never have to go through that again, okay?"

Kate's face was still pale, but she managed to pull herself together. After what she went through on the top of Altru Tower, I don't blame her for being scared. "Is anyone in the jungle?" she pointed toward the main part of the island.

"I don't know," Lucy answered, looking concerned.

"Do you know what's going on, Wendy?" Joel looked at me suspiciously. I didn't blame him.

"The Ranger Union was going to hold a meeting tomorrow to tell everyone, but I guess we didn't move quickly enough," I replied, looking worriedly toward the main island, "I hope whoever's in there can deal with one pissed off Darkrai."


	11. Chapter 11

**To my three reviews for last chapter, you guys rock! Super high-fives for all of you! Also, thumbs up to all people who favorite-storied this story or put it on story alert. You guys rock too! This is the most successful story I've had and I'm pumped! **

**There will be some answers in this next chapter, but hopefully not many. I wouldn't want to have people actually know what's going on. :) **

**Enjoy! And I love the reviews so keep 'em coming!**

**Spenser**

"Voicemail, voicemail," my styler went off and I let go of the tree I was clinging to long enough to answer the call.

"Yeah," I said hoarsely, feeling crappier than I'd ever felt in my life.

"Hey, Spense," I heard Joel's voice on the other end, "I'm thinking that you're dealing with some stuff right now."

"No way," I replied flatly, tentatively stepping away from the tree, "Really?" I was feeling a little bit better. Maybe I just had to get used to this crappy feeling.

"Listen, buddy," he continued, "I'm sure you've figured out, basically, what the heck is going on right now. But, I'm guessing Solana's freaking right now."

"Just a little," Solana put in anxiously.

"Well, Elita says that in light of the current situation, she's okay with you telling Solana everything. You know, about the test. Technically she's not supposed to know and all, but, eh, we can let that slide."

"Tell me what?" Solana walked slowly over to me and leaned against the tree I had formerly been holding on to for dear life. Then our conversation was interrupted for a moment as someone wrestled Joel's styler from him.

"Arceus, Lucy, we all agreed I would do this," Joel said in annoyance and I could hear a brief tussle in the background. "Lucy, stop it. Holy Suicune, could you- Ow!"

"Hey, guys," Lucy said happily, seemingly in full control of Joel's styler now. I heard Joel grumbling and I couldn't help myself from grinning.

"Do you know how much you lower Joel's self-esteem when you do that?" I asked with a certain amount of amusement.

"He needs it," Lucy replied and I could hear the grin in her voice, "Listen, Kate's busy capturing things, seeing as she has the Vatonage styler and everything, but she wants me to tell you a few things. First off, I don't know if you've figured this out yet, but the Vatonage styler is the only thing that can capture these Pokemon."

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes, "We figured that out the hard way."

"Kate also says that the crappy feeling that you have right now will go away," Lucy continued, a bit too cheerfully for me, "It's just a side effect of the Darkrai."

"I'm sorry," Solana looked at me in shock, "Did she just say Darkrai?!? What the heck is going on right now?"

"I'll explain in a minute," I waved her off. She immediately went into grumpy mode. I could already see the syndromes. The angry face, the looking off into space- the grumping, really. How had I managed to piss off both of my dynamic duo separately within an hour?

"Honestly, Spense, and this is from all of us," Lucy had dropped the playfulness and sounded concerned now, "You and Solana be careful, okay?" I was reminded of the seriousness of this. As much as we as Rangers joked around, we all knew there was a job to be done and that any one of us could be hurt or killed at any moment. The only way we could make it better was to joke about it. Take it too seriously and you go crazy.

"A Darkrai's got no chance against us, Luce," I replied, grinning, "Now just promise me that you'll play nice with Joel while I'm gone."

"I'll try," Lucy answered, "But no promises." Joel was protesting in the background, but I couldn't tell what he was saying. "I'll see you when you get back, Spenser," Lucy said, seemingly keeping a positive attitude.

"Bye, Lucy," I finished, amused, and cut off our connection. I looked up to see Solana staring at me.

"What?" I asked, shaking off the last of Darkrai's effect. I felt so much better already.

Yup, she was grumping. "Why do I feel like I've been left out of something?"

"Solana, you haven't been left out of anything," I replied, trying to keep the grin off my face.

"Don't smile, you make it worse," she shot back, looking like she wanted to hit me over the head repeatedly.

"Okay, the shortened version of all this is that a Darkrai, we're not quite sure if the one causing this is the same one, is a bit of a friend of ours- ours being the Fiore Ranger leaders. Elita would want me to tell it to you like this. Ever since the beginning of the Ranger Union, which originated in Fiore, the test for all would-be Fiore area leaders was to capture this Darkrai- our Darkrai. Seeing as there's only four of us, it was the one of the greatest honors to begin with. No one knows how this tradition started. It just did."

"But-" Solana started to ask, but I interrupted her question.

"Look, let me talk and you just listen, okay?"

She shut her mouth. That was what I needed. This thing was hard enough to explain on its own. I shouldn't even be the one doing this. Elita was the one who knew protocol. Not me. "The difference is that the Darkrai wasn't pissed off, as it is now. A pissed-off Darkrai could be dangerous, as you can see here, although this Darkrai is making the other Pokemon act weird, which isn't normal. Anyway, a calm Darkrai can be the perfect test for a Ranger. The one that we go to has been perfectly calm its whole life. Not only does it test your capture skills, but it also tests you emotionally and mentally. Darkrai shows you your worst fears. If you can get through that and capture it, you can do anything."

"However, ever since the incident with Kate and the Darkrai on Altru Tower, the Ranger Union's been… rethinking things. It's tradition, but it also could be dangerous. We've tried to confirm that our Darkrai isn't the same one that caused the havoc on Altru tower, but we're not sure. We've haven't had any need for another test in six or seven years, since Cameron took it." I couldn't help but grin, "Solana, you should've seen him take it. He's better than you think, you know. He's just too lazy sometimes to get off his butt and do the tough stuff."

"You're getting off topic," she warned me. I made a face at her.

"Anyway, Elita's a stickler for protocol and she believes that you'll be fine. I believe the same. If Cameron passed, you can pass." I didn't tell her about how after seeing how badly Kate had been affected, I wasn't so sure anymore. She didn't need my uncertainty right now.

"Okay, so if Darkrai's here, why don't I just get it over with now," she shrugged, "Let's go find it and I'll calm it down."

"Uh," I thought about it for a second, "Yeah, that's not such a good idea."

"Why not?" She shrugged, "I'll catch two Pidgey with one Pokeball. Calm down a raging Darkrai and pass my test. I couldn't get a better oppurtunity."

"Uh, because it's pissed off and therefore, you're screwed," I answered hesitantly, "And besides, it's most likely that this Darkrai is wilder and more out-of-control than ours is. It might be better if I took this one, seeing as I've faced a Darkrai before." Solana shook her head definitely and I winced. There was nothing I could do to stop her. Her mind was made up.

"Kate did it and she didn't have any experience with Darkrai before," she smiled lightly, "So I can do it too. How do I find it?"

"Listen, at least let me help with its area move," I said, realizing that nothing I could say was going to change her mind, "If this bad-ass Darkrai starts to suck you into the nightmare world or whatever, just grab onto Fearow and hold on for dear life, okay?"

"Yeah," she answered restlessly, "Okay, now where is this sucker?"

"I don't know for sure, but I can give you my best guess," I said, looking pointedly toward the temple up the cliff.

"Ah," Solana nodded, "Everything leads back to the Relic, don't it?"

"It's the creepiest place within a fifty or so mile radius," I shrugged, "I'm thinking that Darkrai's gotta be there."

"Well, let's go," she replied, sounding a bit too excited for my liking. I followed her as she made for the Relic, and I couldn't help but think that all this was happening a little bit too fast. I was sitting in the Ringtown base reading my styler-mail not even an hour ago. Who would've known that now I'd be getting Solana ready to face an angry Darkrai?

I really hated being screwed.

**Darkrai**

Whatever had been thumping around up there had given me the worst headache. Honestly, you'd think that the legendary Pokemon of darkness would be pretty much left alone, but no. Stupid other Pokemon.

The thing was that I had been getting headaches pretty easily lately. And I'd been having nightmares of my own. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I was wandering. This had been going on for four years, which may be insignificant for a Pokemon with my lifespan, but it didn't feel very insignificant right now. But you'd think that a Darkrai wouldn't have nightmares. I inflict nightmares on other people, so I shouldn't get them. This was ridiculous.

They always had that Dark Crystal in them. I still couldn't get away from it, even though its power had been neutralized. It was everywhere I went. Let's just say that my protection of it hadn't always been completely voluntary. There was something about that had been inviting. The darkness was inviting. It was compelling. I had to protect it, you know. And now that it was gone, I couldn't think of anything else.

My mom was always telling me to come out and live with her on Newmoon Island where I wouldn't affect anybody. But seriously, who wants to live with their mom? And she's always got Rangers coming to see her every couple of years. She serves as a test for them. Honestly, how much lower can you get? Besides, who would want to live near that freaky wacko Cresselia? My mom deals with Cresselia because Cressalia's the only thing that can negate her nightmare effect on people. But I won't. Forget it. I'd rather freak people out than live anywhere near that creep.

Anyway, that earthquake or whatever the heck had been going on before had gotten me super-pissed. Seriously, the next thing in here, Pokemon or human, was going to get pulverized. Was it wrong that I was looking forward to the pulverization part? Hmmm, nah. I'm a Darkrai. It's what I do. Whoever or whatever came in next was gonna have to live with it. Or not.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is probably the most emotional chapter of fanfiction I have ever written. The beginning is kind of sappy, really, and if this chapter doesn't have major Solana/Spenser hints, I don't know what does. It was fun though, especially the battle with Darkrai. Okay, you can read it now instead of just reading stuff that I wrote about what I wrote. :) That was confusing. Okay, here it is! **

**Spenser**

Solana and I climbed up the stairs to the entrance of the Relic. Solana's face seemed to be only determined. She just had no idea what she was going to be up against. I wanted to tell her she was crazy and maybe knock her out and fight the Darkrai myself. However, she would definitely never talk to me again if I did that, so I had to cross that off the list. Honestly, all I could do was support her and make sure she doesn't get killed. Cause I don't care if she never talks to me again, if she's in serious danger I'm getting her out.

"So this test is only for Fiore leaders?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Our area bases were the way that the Ranger Union got started. There's only four of them, so whoever was in charge had to prove their worth."

"So you took it," she said, more of a statement than anything.

"Yeah," I answered shortly.

"And?"

"And it's not something that you want to repeat," I said grimly.

"But you would try to convince me to step aside to let you do it anyway," Solana replied evenly and I found that I didn't like where this conversation was going. Now I was going to have to talk about my feelings and Arceus knows how much I wanted to do that right now, especially since I was feeling so confused about anything to do with Solana.

"Yes, Solana," I answered calmly, "because I'm a Ranger and it's my job."

She was still studying me in that way of hers, as if trying to see exactly what it was I was thinking. I couldn't meet her eyes. "Spense," she looked at me, grinning, "I'm gonna be fine, you know. You don't have to worry about me."

"I'm not worrying," I protested, then caught the knowing look in her eyes, "Okay, maybe a little. A tiny bit."

"It's cute," she grinned at me, taking my hand and squeezing it, "But I'll be fine." We reached the top and she faced me before entering the Relic. I have to say, for all my confused feelings, I definitely knew one thing: I didn't so much mind this whole hand-holding thing. I could get used to it.

"Just be smart, okay?" I found that I couldn't break into a smile at this point. There was finally a situation where I couldn't joke my way out of things. I had to face the truth in more ways than one. I felt the urge to kiss Solana and hold onto her and never let her go off and do anything stupid or dangerous ever, but I knew I couldn't and the moment passed like any other.

"Yeah," Solana answered, then looked down to see how tightly I was holding onto her hand. I let go, a bit embarrassed. She didn't say anything about it, but turned toward the entrance. "Let's wrangle ourselves a Darkrai."

**Solana**

I entered the Relic, ready for anything. And I wasn't disappointed. Sure, enough, Darkrai was there waiting for me. I felt a sudden swoosh in my stomach. I hadn't been nervous or scared up to this point, but seeing it there so real and looking like it came straight out of a nightmare suddenly scared the crap outta me.

"Is there anything you're supposed to say?" I asked hesitantly, not quite sure how this was supposed to be done.

"Yeah, something about you being an awesome ranger and asking you if you want to take on this great responsibility and you say 'I do' a couple of times," he responded, eyes locked on the Darkrai. I wondered if he was thinking about his own experience with it. "Anyway, it's all water under the bridge really."

"Do you think Elita would say that?" I asked. The Darkrai's eyes were starting to glow. That wasn't a good sign, was it?

"Elita's not here," he replied quickly, "Just focus on capturing this thing and we'll get out of here."

"Any last minute advice?" I asked as the Darkrai inched closer to me. Spenser backed off, letting me do my own thing. He'd better not try to help me unless I'm an inch from death. I had to pass this test on my own to prove I was ready.

"Just remember who you are," Spenser answered cryptically. That's when the full force of the Darkrai's attack hit me. The memories passed in front of me in a flash and each one of them caused the same emotions they did when they happened, only intensified.

I was five years old, playing with blocks in kindergarten by myself because I didn't want to talk to anyone. My mother had just left me with her best friend from high school and took off, going Arceus knows where. Even at five, I knew the feeling of being unwanted. I could tell when I was a burden.

Vaguely, I could also feel myself in the real world as I activated my styler, trying to push through the pure emotion of what I was seeing. I could hear Spenser yelling something about staying focused and remembering who I was- that stupid advice again- and I started doing what Rangers do best- drawing circles.

My mind was under attack. The years of my short life were passing by now, but all I seemed to be reminded of were the bad times. The loneliness. The feeling of not being wanted. Being a burden, constantly, to whoever was taking care of me at the time as I was switched back and forth between distant relatives and "friends of the family". There was no stability. There was no love. No care. No sense of belonging or home.

I was still circling the Darkrai, but I was careless because of my distractions. My styler energy was dropping lower and I forced myself to focus. I heard Spenser's voice in the background of everything that was going on and I held onto it. Even though the words were meaningless to me, I could use it to block out the other emotions the Darkrai was throwing at me- fear, loneliness, sorrow, hatred, jealousy, and every other negative feeling I had ever felt in my life.

_You know what your life is? _I could hear a voice in my head, taunting me from afar, and I tried to block it out, but found I couldn't. _It's just another sob story. You're just another unwanted kid. Nothing special. You're still the same little kid who was left at the closest doorstep. Nobody ever cared about whether you went to class or got straight A's. Do you honestly think that things have changed? _

I told that voice in my head to shut up until it got tinier and tinier. The bad memories were crowded out by the good ones. The feeling I got the first time I captured a Pokemon. Listening to Murph as he composed his own theme song. Lunick and I having our own party thrown for us after defeating the Go-Rock Squad. Spenser and I holding hands, even though I was half-asleep. I had a home now. I had people who cared about me. Everything had changed from my childhood days. I had grown up way too much in the past five years to let my own fears defeat me.

I was so close now. I could feel the Darkrai's power over me getting weaker, but it still had one last thing to throw at me. It wasn't even a memory, more of a true nightmare. The feeling of loss hit me right square in the chest and I almost couldn't breathe for a second.

The feeling of him being gone. Spenser. I would go to my styler to message him and find I couldn't. Every time that I heard Lunick say something about Aria or had eggs in the morning or saw a pillow or filed reports for the Union, I would think of him. He would be everywhere. And the worst thing would be to never have told him how I had felt.

Out of all the things that Darkrai had thrown at me, this was the worst. I had gotten over my past. That was long gone. It was the future that scared me. I couldn't control the future. It was dark and unknown and the variable to every equation. No matter how hard you tried, sometimes the future was just set. There was no changing destiny.

Suddenly, I heard my styler ding and I looked down at it curiously, as if I couldn't understand it. "Solana, you did it," I heard Spenser's voice and when he shook my shoulder, I came to, "You captured Darkrai."

I looked at the Darkrai in front of me, beaten and shamed, and yet still defiant. This Darkrai hated. It hated with such pure energy that I wondered how it didn't just explode with it. What would I do with it now?

Luckily, Spenser seemed to have an idea. "Listen, Darkrai, let us help you," he said softly and I thought he was going crazy for a second. Why was he talking to it? "Let me call the Union and have one of our specialists come and find out what's wrong. We want to help you."

Spenser winced and I guessed that he was having a voice talking in his head as well. "I didn't- I just wanted to help-" He appeared to be in pain. The Darkrai let out a pulse of pure energy and the room wavered for a minute. Then I saw Spenser fall to the ground a split-second before I did and I blacked-out, glad to be unable to feel anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

**This is really a filler chapter compared to the last one. However, the next chapter will be the big meeting at the Ranger Union and pretty much the whole plot will be laid out there. Super-duper. Okay, moving on, I had a question for all you Pokemon Ranger fans out there.**

**I've been kicking around this idea to make a full-fledged Pokemon Ranger role-play site. For those of you who are unfamiliar with such sites, a role-play is kind of like fanfiction, but where there's a big main plot and each person controls certain characters and we all kind of write the story together. I was thinking it could be Fiore and Almia. You could play as characters from the original Pokemon Ranger and Shadows and Almia or make your own OC characters. **

**However, I'm not going to create this site if I'm going to be wasting my time, so if it sounds interesting to you and you'd want to do it, just PM me or include it in your review. Honestly, only about four or five people would do it for me because I want to do this so bad. :) Besides, I only need enough to get started and then we can advertise on other sites and get more people. If this is a big no-no, I'll just forget about it and we'll just act like the majority of this author's note never happened. x]**

**On the other hand, if anyone knows of a site like this, also let me know. I want in on the action! :) **

**Back to the… I'd like to say action, but it's more like filler chapter. **

**Spenser**

I blinked several times in a row, unable to believe that I was somehow still alive. The pain let me know that I was. Arceus, Darkrai hurt. And I didn't even really fight it. I heard footsteps coming up the steps and I lifted my head slightly to see Joel enter the room, looking concerned. When he saw me outstretched on the floor looking up at him, he grinned.

"You must have a pretty bad headache."

"It's worse than the hangover I got after Cameron's bachelor party," I groaned, holding my head gingerly.

Wendy came up beside him and let out a sigh of relief when she saw I was conscious. However, she immediately shifted her attention to Solana, who I could see was still unconscious on the floor.

"Is she okay?" I asked immediately, sitting up to see better. Wendy was silent for a moment checking Solana over. I swear that it was one of the longest goddamn moments of my life. A Slowpoke could've checked for Solana's vital signs quicker than the time Wendy was taking.

"She'll be okay," she finally said and I realized that I'd been holding my breath. I looked down to see my hands were shaking. What the heck was going on with me? Was this thing with Solana really that serious?

"Let's get you guys back to base," Joel grinned at me knowingly. He knew exactly what was going on between Solana and me. Or at least he thought he did. I didn't even have the energy to make a face at him. I would like to say that I just didn't care about trying to figure out my relationship with Solana, but I'd be lying. I'd couldn't remember the last time I'd cared this much.

**Lunick**

Solana was out for four hours after Spenser brought her to Ringtown. Apparently the Summerland base was crowded and he wanted her to really get some rest. Ringtown was the closest and quietest place.

Spenser carried Solana into his own quarters, placing her in his bed and arranging the covers. I guess he really didn't want her to be disturbed. I waited until he came out to attack him about what was going on.

"What happened?" I asked anxiously, not at all encouraged by the sight of an unconscious Solana. Let's just say that it took something pretty big and powerful to take down Solana. I'd been worrying like crazy back here at base and I had never been more frustrated in my life. Looks like I was worrying with good reason.

"I have to get back to Summerland and help with the clean-up," Spenser answered, evading my question, "but can you make sure no one bothers her? She'll be fine, but she really needs to get some rest."

"Yeah, of course, Leader," I replied, confused a bit with his dodge.

"How's Melody?"

"The doctor gave her a cast for the next three weeks or so, but she's fine," I responded, nodding my head in the direction of the kitchen, "She's eating lunch."

"I'll be back by tonight," he answered, "Just watch the base for me."

I nodded in reply and he rushed out with his Fearow, heading back to Summerland. I spent the next four hours alternately checking in on Melody, Solana, and the town, which got exhausting after a while. I was coming back from one of my quick ten minute patrols to find Solana awake and laughing with Melody as she signed Melody's cast. Plusle, who had been watching over Solana the whole time while she slept, was playing with Melody's Pachurisu.

"You keep that cast and you could probably sell it for a lot of money in a few years," Solana laughed, "You know, with me becoming a super-famous area leader and all." I immediately realized that although she might have a different future now, she was exactly the same as she had always been. I grinned as she noticed me and her face seemed to light up.

"Lunick!" she grinned, actually getting up to hug me, "I was waiting for you to get back."

"So I actually get a hug?" I replied in mock-surprise. It was just because Solana wasn't much of a touchy-feely person, so I was pretty honored that she considered me worthy of a hug. "I thought you saved those for Spenser?"

I was answered by a punch in the shoulder. "Jeez, you've gotten more violent since you've been gone," I protested, nursing my probably bruised shoulder.

"Outta line, buddy," she retorted, looking angry. But, of course, she couldn't stay mad at me for long. She grinned and gave me another hug, "I'm just so happy to see you."

"Bipolar much?" I muttered to Melody over Solana's shoulder. Melody grinned. We talked for the next hour or so, catching up on all that Solana had been up to lately. Solana and Melody got in a full-fledged discussion about Alyssa (who seems to be the sister of a Top Ranger) and her new partner Pokemon. Melody seemed to find it hilarious that Alyssa had a Chatot with flying difficulties.

Before long, it was about almost time for dinner. Spenser still wasn't back and we couldn't wait for him for that long, so I decided to let Melody and Solana continue their talk and left the room to cook us all a little something. I was rummaging through the cabinets trying to find the pan for the grilled cheese sandwiches when Solana entered the room.

"What's Melody up to?" I asked, finding the pan and lighting the stove.

"She decided to write a letter to Alyssa," Solana answered. I turned around to look at her for a second. Sometimes, when she wasn't laughing or joking around, I could catch a glimpse of something on her face. I couldn't tell what it was, but for that moment, she seemed sad and tired. Something had happened that had changed her.

"So, what happened?" I held her gaze until she looked away and I saw that tired look on her face again.

"Nothing major," she shrugged, but I could tell she was trying to blow me off.

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "Nothing major left you unconscious for four, maybe five hours." She was fiddling with a loose string on the sleeve of her uniform, avoiding my eyes. I waited for it.

"I captured a Darkrai," she finally said and I don't think I could've been more stunned, "That's what was going on in Summerland." When I finally gathered my wits together in some semblance of a question, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"Arceus, what the heck were you thinking?"

She shot me an annoyed look. "That's not what I need right now, Lunick."

"Okay, that's not what I mean," I corrected myself, "What I mean is that why did you do it? Why not Spenser or Joel or Elita? I mean, you're not a leader yet."

"Because," she grinned at me, "I had to pass the final test. And I did. I'm practically a leader right now."

I just looked at her dumbly.

"You know, the final test. Capturing a Darkrai? You knew about that before, right?"

"The test to become a Fiore area leader is to capture a Darkrai?" I asked incredulously.

Solana nodded. "Yeah, you know, there's a specific Darkrai that I'm supposed to go to, but that plan got changed pretty fast." She looked at me nervously for a second, realizing that I wasn't following her. "You… have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" There was a slight uneasiness. "Uh, I'm sure that you just haven't heard about it before. But a lot of Rangers know about it. I think."

"Solana?" I heard Melody's voice call from the other room. "C'mere, I got a question about Alyssa's Chatot."

Solana jumped up, seeming to be glad to leave the awkward moment we were having. "Yeah, I'll be right back."

I shrugged and turned to start putting the bread and cheese on the pan. I had gotten my first sandwich ready to be cooked when who walked in but good old Spenser. "Hey, Leader," I waved a free hand at him as I checked the bottom of the sandwich, "You want a grilled cheese."

"What kind of cheese is it?" Spenser craned his head over my shoulder.

"American," I replied, wondering if Spenser would know anything about this test business that Solana was talking about. The words seemed to come out of my mouth even before I thought about it. "What's up with this test to be leader?" I asked, "Is it something that I just missed? Something about a Darkrai?"

Spenser looked at me for a full second, then turned his head abruptly. "SOLANA!"

Solana came rushing into the kitchen, beaming. "Hey, Spense, how'd the clean-up go in Summerland? Everyone's okay, right?"

"You told him?" Spenser asked incredulously, pointing at me.

"Told him what?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Spenser shot back.

Solana's face turned red. "Oh, well, you didn't tell me it was a secret or anything. I thought it was just some age-old tradition that I missed hearing about. I mean, we've haven't had any new leaders since I came here, so there would be no reason to talk about it."

Spenser's face was turning red too, but his was with fury. "You don't think that you might want to keep it a secret that the Ranger Union has an on-going relationship with and knows the exact location of one of the darkest Pokemon ever? Only area leaders and Top Rangers know about this!"

Melody chose that exact moment to breeze into the kitchen. "You know, most people think that Darkrai are willfully destructive and malicious, but really only about one out of four is that way. I'd think that those were pretty low odds for such a stereotype." She took a slice of American cheese from the counter and took a bite, chewing as we all stared at her.

Spenser was speechless. He turned his glare to Solana.

"Um," Solana tried a smile, "Oops."


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so it's second call for any role-play website people. I am actually amazed at my own skills, seeing as I've pretty much already finished all the boards. You can even start making characters! For some reason, the URL is being messed up, so to get there just take pokemonrangerss and put a (dot) proboards and (dot) com on the end. That should get you there.**

**Anyway, as far as my fanfiction goes, today's chappie was one of the funnest things I've ever written in my life. I have one of my new OC characters in here which I hope to have in my rp site as well- Danielle. Also, Jack Walker makes an appearance in this chapter and he, Spenser, and Joel have some very interesting exchanges. So let the fun begin! **

**Solana **

"Solana, let's go or I'm leaving without you," Spenser yelled at me.

I had stayed overnight and Spense and I were leaving this morning to go to this supposed "big meeting". I guess everything was going to be explained. By everything, I mean all this shady business that was going on. There seemed to be something more to this situation than just a rogue Darkrai making a random appearance.

Anyway, only the leaders of each Ranger base and Top Rangers were going. Apparently almost-leaders were invited as well. "I'm coming, Spense," I yelled back, grabbing my shoes and hopping toward the stairs as I put them on. We were talking the Dragonite Bus, seeing as we didn't want to put too much stress on Spenser's Fearow. It had apparently already carried both of us yesterday, although I was unconscious and didn't realize it. Cameron's Dragonite Bus had been overloaded by all the people having to be different places.

However, there was no bantering for Spenser and I at the moment. We had already had our major blow-out last night. Spenser had sent Melody and Lunick out of the kitchen and we had at each other. Although I'm not sure what good sending them out was because I'm sure all of Ringtown could hear us yelling. When it gets to be that loud, there's not much point.

We had both said things that we regret and the fight had blown up to much more than what it really was, which usually happens between two people who know each other as well as we do. So, we weren't talking much now.

"SOLANA!"

"I'm right here, you lunatic," I retorted as I came up the stairs, "You need to chill out."

Spenser muttered something inaudible. I decided to take the high road and ignore it. It was time to find out what the heck was going on.

**Joel**

Lucy and I traveled to the Ranger Union together for this meeting, but as soon as we got there I put as much distance between us as possible. It wasn't that I didn't like Lucy. No, it was definitely not that. It was that a certain person that kept her company a lot scared the living daylights outta me. Unfortunately, there's only so many places you can hide in the lobby of the Ranger Union. However, in the last three or so years, I'd become pretty adept at finding a good spot.

"Hey, Joel," Lucy popped her head around the pillar I was hiding behind, "So, are you having fun yet?"

"Um, yeah, it's great," I nodded, trying to find some way to get rid of her without actually telling her I wanted to get rid of her.

"Cause it looks like you're hiding right now."

"Hiding?" I replied indignantly, trying to save face after having my hiding spot found, "I am not. I was just… I don't know, but I wasn't hiding."

"You're standing behind a pillar in the corner of the room," Lucy stated plainly and I winced. Okay, so bluffing wasn't my strongest suit. "He doesn't bite, you know?"

_His Luxray does, _I thought sourly, however, I made sure that thought did not leave my mouth. "What?" I answered, feigning ignorance, "I definitely don't know what you're talking about. I'm a grown man and I am not scared of anything. Especially a certain hat-wearing Top Ranger." I peered around the pillar cautiously and then pulled back quickly, shooting a nervous look at Lucy. "I think he saw me."

"It won't help you in he finds us hiding out in a corner of a room," Lucy pointed out, "I mean, then he might think, well, you know, that there's something, well, going on between us." I was pleased to see that she blushed faintly. "I mean, I wouldn't want him to get the wrong impression. Cause, you know, there isn't. Anything going on. Between us."

I nodded emphatically. "No, of course not. Definitely not. We can agree on that."

"Right," Lucy replied, realizing the conversation had suddenly turned awkward, "I'm gonna go back before I give away your hiding spot, but don't freak yourself out too much." She was about to leave, but stuck her head back around the pillar, looking at me critically.

"By the way, Joel, you are the biggest wimp I have ever met in my life."

I glared back at her. "Just tell Spenser where I am if you see him."

She made a face at me while walking away. "Spineless wimp."

I settled back into my corner. A few seconds later, Spenser showed up.

"Jeez, Spense, you scared the crap outta me," I started, not expecting him to come so soon after I had talked to Lucy.

"Sven's too busy talking with Wendy, Mushroom-haired Genius, and Ms. Bubbly Blonde to waste his time scouring the Union halls for you," Spenser answered cynically, leaning against the wall. He was in a bad mood. I could tell. And the only thing that I could think of that would've put him in this bad mood was Solana. I peered around the pillar. Yup, there she was happily chatting with Elita and Cameron. I looked back at Spenser.

"Is this about Solana?" I watched his critically.

He avoided my eyes. Bingo. I just hit the Jackpot.

"What did you do now, Spenser?" I asked with a sigh.

"Nothing!" Spenser retorted, "I didn't do anything. I mean, she told Lunick about the leader test and then while we were fighting about it, Melody heard and now I'm starting to think all of Ringtown knows that Solana says I'm an idiot with a brain the size of a walnut." He took a breath after this long tirade. "And that's totally not true."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's debatable."

I think he would've hit me had Jack Walker not chosen that exact moment to poke his head around the column, grinning wickedly. "Hey, Spense, Joel, you two aren't fighting on a day like this, are you?"

"Jackie?" Spenser said incredulously, "You're actually here? I thought you usually just blew off these shindigs."

"C'mon, Spense," Jackie shrugged, shaking his head, "Don't hurt me like that. I would never blow meetings off."

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes sarcastically, "You're just always 'busy'."

"What's up with him?" Jackie asked, jabbing his thumb toward me.

"You know, Sven's around," Spenser replied, suddenly seeming much better now that prospect of teasing me had come around, "It's a stressful time."

"Ah," Jackie nodded mockingly, "Hence the hiding in the corner of the room."

"I don't hide," I answered, a bit in frustration, "I just sort of, I don't know, conceal myself. There's a big difference."

"Now that's a debate for another time," Jackie pointed out, still grinning wickedly, "The hiding vs. concealing. Cause the two words are really so different."

I glared at him. Why, oh why, did I ever decide that he and Spenser were my best friends? Where had I even gotten that idea from?

Luckily, Spenser changed the topic at that moment and our talk turned toward more serious issues. "Hey, Jackie, you know anything about what's going on?"

"I just got back from a mission," Jackie replied, shrugging, "So I know even less than you."

Spenser looked at him reproachfully. "Jack Walker, I know you better than that. You have sources. Now let's go, what do you know?"

He grinned in reply. "C'mon, Spense, Erma made me promise not to say anything yet. I did, however, hear about the Darkrai you and Solana took down." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "How's that going anyway?"

"Ah, you might not want to go there," I warned him, crossing my arms, "He and Solana are currently in a fight."

"C'mon, Spenser," Jackie shook his head in disappointment, "I mean, really. You and Joel drive me crazy with the amount of times you fight with your girlfriends. I mean, with Joel and Lucy it's always something. I thought you and Solana were doing okay."

"First of all, Lucy's not my girlfriend. Second of all, Jackie, how about that whole people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones thing?" I asked him, "I'm pretty sure Danielle is furious at you."

Jackie shrugged yet again. "Please. She's not angry. We had a little misunderstanding, but she's over it now. We are perfectly happy."

As if on cue, the red-headed leader of Pueltown, who was also Jackie's current (and let me stress, current) girlfriend, joined the party. And let me say, she didn't look happy. When it came to Jack Walker, she rarely looked happy.

"Jack Walker, I have been looking all over creation for you because you and I are going to talk about this," she grabbed his ear and twisted it, which happened to be Jackie's weak spot.

"Ouch, jeez, Danielle, I was busy… with, stuff, you know," Jackie retorted as he winced, "Top Ranger stuff. Ow!"

"That's crap," she answered furiously, "The other Top Rangers aren't gone nearly as much as you are. And besides, you promised!"

"I'll get you a really nice present to make up for it," Jackie offered, but that just made her angrier.

"My birthday was a week ago and you still haven't gotten me anything?" She asked incredulously, "That really shows how much you care. I mean, besides the fact that you've been dodging my calls."

"Okay, look, I-"

"Oh, wait, I forgot who I was talking to," Danielle replied scornfully, finally letting go of his ear, "You missed my last birthday too. And Valentine's Day. And our anniversary. And pretty much every day that mattered. You'd better find a really good excuse and fast or we are done." She turned and stalked off, leaving Jackie to nurse his twisted ear.

"Yeah, she's definitely over it," I nodded. Jackie sent me a scathing look.

"At least I have a girlfriend," he shot back. This probably would've resulted in a whole other argument except for the fact that Chairperson Erma was now calling for people to come upstairs to the situation room. Everyone must have arrived. I did a quick room check as Spenser, Jackie, and I came out from the corner. Solana, Cameron, and Elita had been joined by a furious Danielle. Sven, Wendy, Isaac, and Rhythmi were still a group, but Lucy was also talking with them now. Kate and Barlow were grouped with Michael, Grace, and Rena, the three area leaders of Haruba Village, Shiver Camp, and Boyleland respectively. It looked like everyone we were going to get was here.

Except Keith, another Top Ranger. I didn't know the guy well enough, but I knew he should be here. I shrugged. Maybe Erma would address that. He must just be on a mission. It must be a pretty important mission though if he was missing this semi-mandatory Union meeting for it.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Spenser said as everyone started to move toward the stairs to the sit room.

"Dude, you shouldn't," Jackie replied and we both glared at him.

"Okay, just because you dated a few people within the Union and have some connection doesn't mean you can use them against us," I said indignantly.

Jackie grinned. "You gonna stop me, boss?"

I realized he was right and there was nothing I could do about it. "If you dated more, maybe you'd have more connection," Jackie advised me as we went up the stairs.

"If you dated less, maybe you'd have a lot less things thrown at you in public," Spenser muttered under his breath. I grinned. Spenser had a point. Unfortunately, Jackie had a long history of break-ups and make-ups within the Union. Jackie had so far avoided most of this drama only because he was gone so often. And he had learned to be good at hiding, same as me.

Jackie didn't hear Spenser retort or chose to ignore it. Either way, he didn't say anything. We followed the group to the situation room. The lights were cut and the only light came from the underfoot monitor, which was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life. I wanted my own sit room for Fall City.

Chairperson Erma and Isaac joined Professor Hastings as the rest of us grouped around, ready to hear what was going on. Isaac stepped slightly in front and cleared his throat. Why he would be telling us what was going on, I don't know. Did all this have something to do with something that he had researched? The hubbub died down and he got ready to speak.

"Um, we're going to have to deal with a problem here."


	15. Chapter 15

**The webby site is going great! For anyone else who is thinking about joining, do it! It's awesome! And if it's confusing getting to it, just look at Crime Scene Fairy's (who's reviewed my story many times :) ) profile and she has the link to it there. So yeah, enough for that stuff. Back to the fanfic!**

**Now it's time to actually figure a few things out. This mostly a information chapter, so not too much humor, but I tried to fit it in where I could :) Enjoy!**

**Kate**

For the moment, I wasn't focusing on Isaac. I had already heard what he had to say and none of it was good. I was worried about Keith. He still wasn't back and judging from Chairperson Erma's silence, I was guessing it wasn't good. When it came to bad news about Keith, I wasn't the first person everyone came running to tell. I usually got angry at whoever told me. Honestly, sometimes even Erma didn't get a free pass.

He just always seemed to get in the worst situation. I never wanted to go through that "exchange Keith for Yellow Gem" type thing again. If he managed to get himself kidnapped… Let's just say that he'd never hear the end of it. I mean, as soon as I rescued his butt and got it right back here in the Ranger Union where it belonged. He should be here.

"I've been doing some research for Altru, but most of it was concerning new energy sources, which isn't what I want to talk about now," Isaac's voice disrupted my thoughts and I realized I'd better pay attention. He looked nervous enough and he didn't need people's attentions to be straying. "This is about a side project I did besides my research. It was my own project. I was always interested in what happened to the Darkrai that was tied to the Dark Crystal. I took some of the Dark Crystal shards that Team Dim Sun left behind and studied them. I cross-referenced that information and looked up everything anyone's ever found about Darkrai."

The room was silent. Isaac continued explaining. "The results that I came up with were not good. From what I gathered, it was very probable that the Darkrai that guarded the Dark Crystal has been severely affected by it."

Danielle raised her hand tentatively, looking freaked out. "Uh, what do you mean by severely affected?"

"I mean that it has settings similar to the Dark Crystal depending on its mood. When it's angry enough, it radiates the same energy the Dark Crystal did."

"So that's what happened in Summerland," Solana stated and Isaac nodded. I couldn't help but grin. The first thing Solana had done when she had arrived at the Ranger Union was to thank me over and over again. Apparently that Vatonage styler had come in handy.

"Anyway, unfortunately, I did this research along with my lab assistant, Meagan," Isaac continued and I could feel the tinge of sorrow in his voice, "I trusted her when I shouldn't have and she alerted what we believe to be a remainder of Team Dim Sun. A few nights ago, they stole my research, along with everything Meagan and I had found out about this Darkrai."

"So are we worried they might go after it?" Barlow, the Vientown leader, asked in a deep voice.

"They already have," Isaac answered, "Meagan and I determined that likeliest place the Darkrai could've been hiding was in the Sekra Mountains. Its location had to be fairly isolated, seeing as we haven't seen it in almost five years. We even determined, to the foot, where it was, based on energy readings we took. Sven and Keith were sent to try and head them off, but when they got there the Darkrai had already done its damage. Team Dim Sun was unable to capture it and it fled to the Jungle Relic, which is where it then got aggravated by the fighting Tyranitar and pulsed with that dark energy, causing the chaos that went in Summerland."

"Is there any way we can find it again before Team Dim Sun does?" Elita asked calmly. She seemed to be taking this well. But then again, she always was pretty calm.

"I can take more energy readings to determine its location," Isaac replied, "but I'm sure Meagan is doing the same. I doubt we'll have much of a head start."

"What were to happen if the Darkrai was captured by Team Dim Sun?" Cameron asked, looking to be more of the freaked out ones, "Worst case scenario."

"They can use it like Blake tried to use the Shadow Crystal," Isaac answered, "As long as they have the right facilities."

"Facilities?" Joel questioned, "Have we found out where this facility could be?"

"I would think he would mention it if we had," Lucy rolled her eyes. Let me just say that I loved Lucy. We had really got to know each other as fellow Top Rangers and she was one of the funniest people I had ever met in my life. Especially when she and Joel got at it.

"Okay, Lucy, look," Joel started to argue back, but then caught Sven's eye and shut his mouth, "Uh, yeah, um, just keep going, Isaac."

"Is it really believable that Team Dim Sun could capture this Darkrai? I mean, Solana and I just barely missed getting destroyed by it," Spenser asked from next to Joel, managing to do it quite nicely without looking at Solana. Everyone in the Ranger Union had heard about their fight by now. Word travels fast here.

"It would be more than they could take," Isaac replied, "but I wouldn't put it past them. Meagan is very smart. She could find out a way to get it done. But as long as they're chasing after it, there's the danger of it becoming angry and causing the Pokemon around it to be affected. I'm sure no one but Team Dim Sun would want another repeat of Summerland."

"Arceus, no," Cameron emphasized, earning a few laughs in the otherwise serious meeting.

"Did Keith and Sven see anything when they went to stop Team Dim Sun from reaching the Darkrai?" Michael, the leader of Haruba Village, asked. He seemed to be taking this all in stride. He was a good guy and a dependable leader for the relatively new base of Haruba Village.

Isaac looked toward Sven, who shook his head. "When Keith and I got there, the place was deserted. We found a few footprints and evidence that people had been there recently. It was obvious that Dim Sun had gotten there before us."

"Where is Keith?" The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I didn't mean to be accusing, but I stared at Sven all the same.

Sven at least had the courtesy to look ashamed. "Listen, Kate, he was fine the last time I talked to him. He's on a mission, but he'll be back soon. I promise."

I wanted to know more, but I shut my mouth, allowing the rest of the meeting to go on. I wasn't going to hold everything up on a psychotic search for my boyfriend if Sven was promising me he was okay. But when I got my hands on him…

"So what's the plan?" Jack Walker asked with a raised eyebrow. This is where Chairperson Erma stepped in.

"I want the Area Leaders to head back to their regions and make sure they put on double the patrols," she announced, eyes raking the crowd thoroughly, "Be on the lookout for suspicious activity and let me know the second anything happens. Top Rangers will be expected to be put right to work investigating this thing. Jackie, that means you will be staying for a while." Erma directed this comment toward the Union's most wayward Top Ranger.

He grinned roguishly. "You got it, boss."

"Any other questions?" Erma asked to the crowd. There was nothing, not even from the jokesters of the group. It had been a serious meeting with not much room for joking. We were basically in a power struggle with Team Dim Sun over a psychotic Darkrai. Not something a lot of people found funny.

Chairperson Erma must have taken the silence to be a no because she disbanded the meeting several moments after that. The area leaders filed out of the room, but the Top Rangers stayed. Now they would get their assignments.

"Lucy and Kate, I want you two to work in the field chasing after Team Dim Sun. We will be in constant contact with you, giving you coordinates as to where the Darkrai is so that hopefully you can stop them before they get to it."

"Sven and Wendy, you guys will work on finding this 'facility' the Dim Sun needs in order to keep the Darkrai," Erma continued, "I want you to work with Isaac on this because he knows what you need to be looking for."

Sven and Wendy nodded and it looked like the only one yet to get an assignment was Jackie. He looked expectantly at the Chairperson and Erma grinned. "I've got a special mission for you, Jack Walker."

Jackie looked like he didn't know if he should appear happy or scared. "Uh, okay," he finally answered, looking apprehensive.

"The rest of you get right to work," Erma nodded and I followed Lucy, Sven, and Wendy out of the room. I glanced back for a second to see Erma and Jackie quietly exchanging words, clearly in cahoots about something. I rolled my eyes. Why did there always have to be secrets about everything?

**Spenser**

Outside, Joel and I were saying our goodbyes to everyone. I purposefully avoided Solana and she purposefully avoided me and Joel rolled his eyes at the both of us. "You're both grown-ups, why can't you just get over this and move on? I mean, Lucy and I argue 24/7, but at least we don't hold grudges."

"I'm not holding a grudge," I answered, waving a goodbye to Elita, "If she doesn't want to talk to me, I don't want to talk to her. That's all there is to it."

"C'mon, Spense, you're not going to see each other for a while. Do you really want to leave mad at each other?"

"Lemme think about it," I said, feigning thought, "Yup."

I did that to him all the time. And he hated it. "Bye, you idiot with a brain the size of a walnut," he said as he left, going off to capture a Staraptor to get a ride back to Fall City. This was the first time in a long time I had seen him leaving a Ranger Union meeting with Lucy right next to him. I guess she was sticking around the Union to get a few things done. Oh, Joel really would miss her dearly. At least, he would miss her more than he thought.

It was time to get back to Ringtown before anything crazy happened there. With Lunick and I being the only functioning Rangers, it was difficult to get any sleep. And now we had to send out double the patrols? I needed to get a bigger coffee-maker. Maybe the caffeine would keep me focused.

Before leaving, I looked back at the group of Rangers saying goodbye and caught Solana's eye. We both immediately looked away, but for second I wondered if this whole fight was really the stupidest thing we had ever done. But I just shrugged and turned to leave. Little did I know that a few hours from then I was wishing more than anything that I had made up with her. When you weren't sure if you'd ever see a person again, former arguments seemed pretty petty.


	16. Chapter 16

**The next few chapters I am writing are my absolute favorites! And we finally get to see Keith! I think this is a pretty good debut for him and I really tried to bring out his awesomeness. We're gonna get some Kate/Keith soon, so all you Vatonage shippers will hopefully be happy with that. Enjoy!**

**Keith**

The mission I was currently on was not fun. I would honestly rather be back at the Ranger Union watching Joel hide from Sven and Jackie just avoid being Barlow Target-Cleared. I would rather be back at the Ranger Union with, you know, Kate. Cause I missed her. Even shivering in this Areceus-forsaken wasteland, I still thought about her. A lot. Maybe it was better being here alone. If Kate was here, I would be complaining about the cold and she'd be telling me to be quiet and probably would whack me over the head a few times.

I pushed through the freezing wind, wondering why my chase had led me this far with absolutely zero results. When I actually found these guys, there was going to be hell to pay. Seriously. The cold was making me grumpy.

I turned around to see my Buizel looking ridiculous with its fur fluffed up. I grinned at it and it actually stuck its tongue out at me.

"Buiz, buiz," it muttered darkly, saying something along the lines of "why, oh, why did I pick a Ranger like you?"

I couldn't help but keep a positive attitude. "Cause you love me," I answered with a grin. Buizel just shot me a dark look. We came over the next snowy ridge to see the imposing build of Almia Castle. Finally. We were there. I had followed these ridiculous-looking people this far and I was going to wrestle this secret they were keeping for Team Dim Sun any way I could. Believe me, Buizel had a pretty powerful Aqua Jet and these goons were going to feel the full force of it before this was over.

I didn't bother knocking, just barged right in. The first thing that flung itself at me was a Camerupt, followed by a Slaking, Scizor, and Tyranitar. They surrounded me and I groaned. Really? A Tyranitar? That one seemed the most angry. Any one of these Pokemon was hard to capture on its own, never mind altogether.

"Even if you're in a hurry, stop in your tracks," one of the people I had been looking so hard for was strumming away on his base. I frowned, staying focused on the Pokemon, but unfortunately unable to block out their theme song.

"Open your ears to our melodic attacks," now the girl with the violin was playing like crazy. I sighed. Still two more to go and the grand finale.

"The rhythm of rage pounds the ground," the third one said, pounding on his drum. Why did I have to be chasing a bunch of musicians? Honestly, a Ranger had no time for a concert in the middle of his mission.

"Let the melody of ambition rise to the skies," the last, and oldest one, slammed on his guitar. Honestly, those last two lines didn't even rhyme.

"If you don't know us, we'll cure your ignorance! Billy! Garret! Clyde! Tiffany! The Go-Rock Squad's hot prospect band of key-shaker-and-taker celebrities! A name once heard and never forgotten! The Go-Rock Quads!"

I rolled my eyes as the four siblings finished their song off with their grand finale. "Yeah, okay, get on with it."

"I can't believe he doesn't appreciate our music," the girl, who I'd learned to be Tiffany, frowned.

"It's okay," the one with the drum, Clyde, grinned, "He'll certainly appreciate our Pokemon."

"Listen, I don't want to fight with you, but I will," I said calmly, suddenly realizing that I'd gotten a lot less headstrong in the last couple of years, "I just want to know about the deal Team Dim Sun made with you and any information they may have given you. We're all, well, mostly grown-ups, so let's work this out in a civilized way."

"Yeah, right," the eldest one, Billy, laughed, "You'll be getting nothing from us."

I thought about continuing the diplomatic approach. There were several things the Union had told me I could barter with- chiefly, letting the Go-Rock Quad be able to travel freely through Fiore once again, where they had been banned from for the past five years. But if they were seriously working with Dim Sun, there was no way I was letting that happen. "Hm, okay, we can do this the hard way," I nodded, unable to keep the cocky grin off my face. Cause let's face it, I haven't changed that much.

Billy smiled, strumming on his guitar, "Okay, guys, attack!"

After that, I was too busy drawing circles to say anything more.

**Billy**

"Guys, is this Dim Sun group really worth dodging Top Rangers for?" Clyde complained and I could tell that the complaint was directed toward me more than anyone else. I was the head honcho of the family and what I said went. Besides, Clyde was the one who complained. If Clyde didn't complain, something was seriously wrong.

"Little bro, I told you what they promised us," I explained, voice easy, "And it's not like we can turn that down. Besides, we already agreed. And it would be ungentlemanly for us to go against that. Unladylike for you, Tiff."

Tiffany frowned, seeming to be on Clyde's side. "Yeah, but they never said anything about the Rangers. They only said to keep Cresselia safe. We didn't know from what."

"Well, we agreed to whatever that meant when we said we'd do it," I reminded her.

"But, bro, the Rangers?" Garrett butted in and I was about to pull my hair out. So now they were all against me? When did this little revolution happen? "We all know what happened the last time we messed with the Rangers. They messed with us. I mean, look," he gestured at our Ranger guest, who'd already managed to capture Tiffany's Camerupt. I always knew that thing was worthless.

"If we don't make a deal with the Rangers fast, we'll be in no position to make a deal," Clyde continued, "I mean, once we get beat, that's it." He glanced back at the Top Ranger, who was honestly somehow capturing the crap out of our Pokemon.

"So what are you guys proposing?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. They seemed to have really worked this out. Had there been a mutiny at some point while we were on the run?

"Most of it was Garrett's idea," Tiffany put in and Garrett gave her a freaked-out look as if to say 'don't pin this on me'.

"It was all our idea," he hastily said.

"Look, we don't even know if Dim Sun will give up the Vatonage styler to us, even when they've used it for whatever they need it for," Clyde explained, "I mean, they don't even have one yet. But the Ranger Union has two. So, we show them where we're hiding Cresselia and lead them on a wild goose chase. We tell them that they needed a Vatonage styler to capture this one because Dim Sun has messed with it. Once the Vatonage styler is within our grasp, we snag it and run. It's foolproof."

"I wouldn't say that much," I snorted. You would be surprised what my family could mess up.

"But let's just call off the Pokemon and take whatever deal they give us," Garrett urged me, "Then we use our position to our advantage."

I made myself look like I was thinking about it, but I had already made up my mind. Seriously, why didn't I think of this whole plan? "I guess if everyone's going to be against me," I sighed, playing it off reluctantly, "I think you guys are just scared of facing off with the Rangers."

They all looked around at each other. "Uh, yeah, that's kind of what we're saying," Tiffany finally said, giggling.

I rolled my eyes. I swear sometimes these guys had no spine. I called off the Pokemon with a strum of my guitar. The Pokemon Ranger stood there, looking at us, panting and disheveled. I noticed with a certain feeling of satisfaction a cut right above his eyebrow that was bleeding. He wasn't going to get away unscathed.

"What? Are you guys giving up already?" He grinned cockily and I seethed with anger.

"Let's just say that you've managed to persuade us out of fighting," I said carefully through gritted teeth, "We're willing to hear what you have to say."

"Only because I'm beating your butt," he smirked smugly.

"Stupid ranger," I heard Garrett mutter.

"Yeah, whatever," I waved a hand at him, as if all of that didn't matter, "Now what's the deal you wanted to make with us?"

The ranger looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No way are you gonna get anything out of this!" he said incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, we are," I replied in annoyance. Who did this ranger think he was?

"No, you are not!"

"Yes, we are!"

"No way!"

"This is ridiculous," I would've done a face-palm, but decided it was below my dignity, "If you really are going to refuse peaceful measures, I'll just call your Chairperson and talk to someone who will."

The ranger hesitated. I knew we had him. He must have promised the Union he would exhaust all peaceful resolutions before he resorted to violence. My siblings and I had been on good standings for the five years after the Go-Rock Squad broke up until the Union intercepted a message between us and Dim Sun. The Union wasn't about to totally alienate us. If we could give them something as a conciliatory gesture, they would give us something in return.

"We'll let you back into Fiore," he finally said.

I grinned slowly. "I suppose that will have to do."

"But I'll be watching you," he threatened, which almost made me laugh. Sure, he was going to be keeping an eye on my siblings and me. He was going to have no idea what was going on once we stole the Vatonage styler right out from underneath his nose.

"Just make the call and we'll tell you everything we know," I gestured toward his styler. He looked at us hesitantly, then reached down for it.

"Ranger Union, this is Top Ranger Keith," he called into it, waiting for the response. A girl's voice sounded on the other end.

"Keith, this is Ranger Union. We hear ya, loud and clear."

"Hey, Rhythmi, I'm going to need the Fiore ban on the Go-Rock Quad to be lifted. Let Erma know as well."

"Sure thing, Keith," the girl replied, "Anything else?"

"Nope, I'll call you back after I get the information," he ended the call and looked at us expectantly. "Okay, now it's done. Hold up your side of the bargain. Where's Cresselia and what kind of safety measures do you have set up around it?"

"We can't tell you," I answered, holding up a hand to stop him when he tried to protest, "but we can show you. The safety measures we put around it require us to help you. If you really want this Cresselia, you're going to need our help."

The red-headed ranger rolled his eyes, but stayed silent to listen to the rest of what I said.

"Also, we also were told that Dim Sun did something to Cresselia that altered its temperament, somehow," I made up, wondering if he would even buy this, "They made it harder to befriend. It needs a... what did they say again? Garrett, help me out."

"Vatonage styler? Yeah, that was it," Garrett put in and I thanked Arceus that at least one of my siblings could catch on.

The so-called ranger Keith looked at me for a moment, as if gauging whether or not to trust me. I guess in the end he had no choice because he nodded. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much," I replied. Keith reached back for his styler, making his second call.

"This is the Ranger Union," the same girl answered and Keith hesitated for a moment.

"I'm gonna need to talk to Erma," he said, then started to back away until he was out of earshot, but still watching us carefully. I grinned. We weren't going anywhere, at least not until we got what we wanted. The Vatonage styler was the best styler out there. If we got one, we could maybe send it to our dad and see what he could do. Next stop after that was a comeback for the Go-Rock Squad, and Tiff, Clyde, Garrett, and I were back in business.

The ranger came back a few minutes later, watching us carefully. "You'd better not be leaving anything out because I can easily get this ban back on."

"C'mon, do you really think we would lie to you after all this?" I asked smoothly.

He just glared at me. "I wouldn't put anything past you."

"Oooh," I sucked in my breath, "That was harsh. Do you honestly think I know what's going on here? Dim Sun didn't tell us anything."

"I think that you have your own agenda separate from Dim Sun," he said, squinting at us suspiciously.

"And what could we possibly want from the Rangers?" I asked, not the smallest bit worried that he could see right through us.

"I don't know," he replied carefully, "but there's something. And someone's coming now to help out, someone that matters a lot to me, and I want you to know this. If you've got a quarrel to pick with the Ranger Union, you take it to me. Leave her out of this."

"So who's coming?" Tiffany asked from behind me curiously.

"My friend Kate. She's a Top Ranger that has the styler we need," Keith explained.

"I'd say she's more than a friend," I put my own two cents in, amused. Keith shot me an annoyed look, but turned a bright red. He turned away from us, looking out the window of Almia Castle toward the horizon.

"Just leave her alone," he growled and I grinned behind his back. We didn't have anything against her. We just wanted her styler.


	17. Chapter 17

**Super intense chapter coming up… or at least I hope it is for you guys as well as me. :) This is where everything really takes off and I'm starting to set up what I want the ending to be. I still have to think out a few things though. So, as far as this chapter goes, enjoy it! **

**Keith**

An hour later, Kate had arrived. What can I say? My girl works fast. I was scolded for the first fifteen minutes about how I shouldn't just go off and disappear. I think she was just relieved at having finally found me. She was getting down to business already, deep into conversation with the Go-Rock Squad. I was half-listening, mostly to make sure that jerk Billy didn't step out of line, but I let Kate run the show. She was always best at the planning stage of things anyway. As for me, I liked the doing part. Not so much the planning.

I could see he was making her smile. Billy. He was a charming son of a bitch. I frowned even deeper, if it was possible. She wasn't keeping her smile hidden either. What game was she playing?

The planning stage was soon finished and not a second too early for me. Kate walked up beside me as she saw me scanning the landscape for any trouble. I didn't want any surprises. She looked over at me, hazel eyes soft and teasing. She seemed to have forgiven me for disappearing mysteriously like I did. "You wanna tell me why you're so grumpy, ginger?"

I couldn't keep the scowl off my face. "I'm not grumpy," I answered, knowing that my denial sounded false, even to my own ears.

She smiled, taking my hand and rubbing a thumb over my palm. "Something's bothering you."

"I just don't trust them," I shook my head, "They're up to something, I can just feel it."

"I agree," Kate replied quietly and I did a double-take at her, "Billy was trying to make me smile. He was trying to cozy up to me, almost. I let him, just to see what if I can figure out what he wants. Because, Keith, they want something and it ain't from you."

"Well, what do you think-" Our talk was interrupted by Kate's styler.

"Voicemail, voicemail," Kate grabbed the styler from her pocket, frowning, "I just talked to the Union an hour ago. Who could it be?"

She answered, clutching the styler tightly. "Hello?"

"Big sis," Alyssa sounded like she was trying to be calm, but there was an edge of hysteria to her voice, "I'm not okay."

The reaction was immediate. Kate's eyes snapped to the styler. Her voice was clear and lucid, cutting through the silence. "What happened?"

"I was out and there was a Pokemon I thought was in danger…" Alyssa sounded like she was barely holding it together and Kate strained toward the styler, as if she wanted to just go right into it and be there for her sister. "But it wasn't a Pokemon and now these bad people have me and I don't know what they want," her voice cracked into a small sob and Kate clutched the styler even tighter.

"Alyssa, where are you?" she asked urgently. This was killing her, I could tell. To her, every second that Alyssa was out there, scared and alone, was another second that Kate wasn't there for her.

"Kate, listen, you can't come, please. Promise me you won't," there were sounds of a struggle, "Big sis, don't come after me, please." Alyssa sounded like she was being wrestled back and gagged and Kate's face turned white.

"Alyssa? Alyssa! Can you hear me? Where are you?" Kate yelled frantically into the styler. That was when another voice came in, one that sounded a lot more sinister than the one of Kate's fourteen-year-old sister.

"Hey, Katie-noob," the voice said mockingly and Kate's face when from completely white to filled with anger. "You can try and catch us, if you dare."

"Ice, I swear, if you even touch a hair on her head, I will make you wish you had never been born," Kate snarled, "And Arceus help you if you think I'm kidding."

"I don't doubt it," I could almost hear the shrug in Ice's voice, "But you'll have to find us first. I'm sure you can figure it out. We'll be waiting." The styler's connection was disabled and Kate immediately put it away, walking toward the entrance to the castle.

"Kate, hold on a minute," I chased after her, pulling on her arm, "Just wait one second before you go dashing off." Everything was happening way too fast for me right now, but this tasted too much like a trap. I was worried about Alyssa too, but I wasn't going to let Kate go running off without a plan.

"Why?" she retorted sharply, "I have to get her back. I have to. She's my sister."

"I understand that," I replied, trying to sound calm, "And believe me, if it was my baby sister, I'd do anything to get her back. But let's be rational about this for a minute."

She stared at my hand, which held her back. "Let go of me."

"Just let me call the Union," I explained to her, refusing to let go of her, "Let's make a plan before we go rushing blind into this."

She hesitated, seeing the sense in my statement. "Fine," she finally said, "but he will not get away with this. No one gets away with hurting my little sister. No one. I don't care if it's Arceus itself, I will not let it happen."

"I understand, Kate," I let go of her, but kept my arm outstretched, "Just give me three minutes. Okay?"

Her face looked thunderous, but she nodded, "Three minutes." I backed off, calling the Union and watching as Kate paced.

"Yeah, Rhythmi, we have a problem. Get Erma on the line for me."

"Yeah, right away, Keith," Rhythmi didn't ask any questions. A few moments later, I recognized Erma's voice on the other end.

"Keith, what is it?"

"Chairperson, Kate's little sister has been kidnapped by Dim Sun," I explained, trying to make this as quickly as possible, "They're holding her over Kate's head. It's gotta be a trap."

There was a moment of silence in which Erma was processing the information. It was a lot to process. "I agree with you. It sounds like a trap set just for Kate. I'm going to send Sven and Lucy to Wintown right away to start the search," Erma replied calmly and a bit too slowly for my liking, "But, Keith, you have to understand that it's essential you and Kate get that Cresselia. It's the only thing that Isaac thinks can potentially cure this Darkrai for good. The best thing Kate can do right now is stay away from Wintown, no matter how badly she wants to go there."

"Yeah, well, Kate's not going to give it up that easy," I hissed back. "What are we going to do?"

"You're going to have to talk her down, Keith," Erma answered steadily. I think I almost had a coronary.

"Erma, you know I can't do that," I freaked, making sure to keep my voice down, "Get Rhythmi or Sven or Wendy or Isaac on the line right now and have them talk to her. Rhythmi would be good at this. She's so much better than me. Heck, even Marcus will do. Marcus and Kate are pretty good friends, right? A little bit?"

"Keith, you're the guy on the ground," Erma said simply, "You have to make the calls. Besides, everyone's busy enough as it is." How was she always so damn calm?

"But she doesn't listen to me," I squawked, having a hard time believing this was actually happening right now, "She won't, not about this. This is her sister, Erma. I can't do this."

"You have to Keith," Erma replied solidly, "I won't have Kate walking into a trap and I need you two to get this Cresselia job done. Just make sure she knows that this is the most important thing she can do for her sister. Dim Sun is doing this to reel in a Ranger with a Vatonage styler to capture Darkrai for them. If they don't get anyone from this, Alyssa will be of no use to them. They'll just let her go."

"So as long as the Vatonage styler stays here, Dim Sun won't get what they want. Unless…" my blood ran cold as I thought about the other Vatonage styler Kate had asked to be made, "Erma, we have to warn Wintown. Now!"

**Solana**

I was out in the Sekra Mountains looking for Alyssa. When I had gotten back to Wintown, Silent Chris had told me and Elita that Alyssa had gone out taking her Chatot for some legitimate flying lessons over near the mountains. Seriously. When a Chatot needed flying lessons, you knew it had to be pretty screwed up.

"I gotta see this," I had grinned and rushed out to find her. However, I couldn't. I thought she would be in her usual spot, near the meadow, so I started there. But she wasn't there. I did a spiraling search path from there, looking farther and farther from her meadow as I circled. I was starting to get a little bit worried after a while.

After almost an hour of looking around, it started to get dark. I decided that she must have gone back to the base. I was about to head back when I heard the fall of gravel down the cliff side of the nearest mountain. Something or someone must have caused that.

"Alyssa?" I called out, looking up to the top of the cliff where the gravel had fallen. There was no reply. That was when an avalanche of rocks cascaded down the mountainside, barreling right toward me. By the time I realized it, it was too late. I hugged Plusle to me and braced myself as the first few rocks crashed into us, dimly seeing that there was a shape much larger than Alyssa coming down the mountainside toward me. That was the last thing I saw before I was knocked to the ground and blacked out.


	18. Chapter 18

**Wow, this is my longest chapter yet. This one is an emotional one as we head back to Spenser and see what happens when he finds out about Solana. Let's just say that he doesn't react well. Luckily, Joel is there for him and this is one of those chapters that I hope really tries to express the friendship between them. I love Joel! :) Even though he probably gets the short end of the stick this chapter.**

**Enjoy and please review! **

**Spenser**

"Hey, Joel, funny seeing you here again," I grinned as he walked up and sat in the chair next to me. He didn't look at me.

"I wonder why they called us here again," I said, not sure if maybe he just didn't hear my greeting. We were both back at the Union, waiting in the lobby again. Except this time, Sven wasn't anywhere nearby so Joel didn't have to hide.

Joel still didn't look at me. Was he still freaking out about the fact that I didn't make up with Solana? "Joel, what's up with you?" I asked, a little bit worried, "Do you know what this is about? Is it Lucy? Cause honestly, it would be just like her to get in trouble already. She would do it just to drag your lazy butt down here."

Joel didn't meet my eyes, but shook his head. "It's not Lucy, Spense. It's Solana."

My grip on the armrests of the chair got tighter. I took a shaky breath in. "Okay, Joel, not funny. I just saw her. I just fought with her. There's no way she managed to get in trouble already. I mean, even she can't do that, right?" I tried to smile, but I couldn't. She wouldn't do this to me.

"Spense, she got kidnapped," Joel finally said. I shook my head. This was just some mistake. She was going to walk into the Union right now, glaring at me because we were still fighting, and I would tell her I was sorry and it was my fault and I cared too much to fight with her.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Spenser. Not about this," Joel shook his head, then looked at me and I could see that this was something he hated telling me more than anything. My head was spinning. He was telling the truth. He wouldn't lie about this with me. Not this of all things.

"Uh, Chairperson Erma wants to see you in the Operations Room," Rhythmi approached us quietly, meeting my eyes. "I'm sorry, Spenser." That confirmed it. This was so surreal, I couldn't even feel anything. So far, I had felt nothing and that was what scared me most of all. Once I had accepted it had happened, it was almost like my mind couldn't comprehend it. I couldn't understand the concept of Solana being gone. It didn't seem possible.

I stood up and shrugged, "It's not me who got kidnapped."

"I know," she replied, eyes flicking to the ground, "but all the same."

I nodded, unable to say any more. Then the emotion came flooding in and I couldn't stop it. Most of all, I was angry. I was angry at whoever took her and I was angry at her for being so careless to have gotten kidnapped and I was so angry at myself for not being there. I shouldn't be stuck in this stupid building right now. I should be out looking for her. That's what she deserved. I can't believe I had let her walk away mad at me. Stupid, stupid pride.

Joel gently pushed me toward the stairs and I walked up them almost mechanically, already planning out what I would do first. How to get her back here and never let her go. Never fight with her over stupid things and let her walk away. Lock her up in a closet somewhere and never let her out ever again until she swore to never leave me again.

I was so lost in thought, I didn't even realize I was going anywhere until we were actually on the third floor Operations Room. Chairperson Erma was trying to get some kind of a hold on the chaos that was going on. Linda and Marcus were both on duty and were taking multiple calls. Elita was there as well, breathlessly scanning the monitors. She looked up and saw me.

"Spenser, I didn't think- I let Solana go out after Alyssa. I didn't think anything was wrong. I should've-" she twisted her mouth ruefully, "I don't know what I'm trying to say. I guess that I'm sorry."

Why was it that everyone was saying sorry to me? "It's not your fault, Elita," I replied as calmly as I could, feeling a stab of irritation. "What information do we have?" I tried to bottle up my anger as well as I could, but I couldn't help but appear impatient.

"She and Alyssa both disappeared in the Sekra Mountains. It couldn't have been too far from base. Alyssa has this meadow she likes to go to and I think that's where she was when she was kidnapped. Solana went looking for her and probably stumbled onto them. Hence, she was taken as well. However, she wasn't the target of this." Elita shot a look at Erma, who had joined them.

"Kate got a voicemail from Alyssa's kidnappers," the Chairperson explained, "They wanted Alyssa as bait so they could trap Kate. Unfortunately for them, they caught her at a bad time."

"Where is she?" Joel questioned. I wished I could pace, but there obviously wasn't room or the need for that right now. I had to let out some sort of emotion or I was going to explode.

"Almia Castle," Erma replied, "She's on an important mission to try to get the only thing that could possibly cure this Darkrai."

"How is she not here?" Joel asked, knowing that Kate was vengeful when it came to people messing with those she cared about.

"Keith managed to talk her down," Elita explained. I ran a hand through my hair impatiently. None of this mattered. I couldn't be here any longer. I needed to find her. All I really had needed to hear was where she had been seen last.

"What do you need us to do?" Joel flicked a look at me as he asked, knowing exactly what I was thinking. I wasn't going to take any assignment besides getting Solana back. If Erma honestly thought I was going to be thinking about anything other than that, she was crazy.

"You and Spenser will meet up with Sven and Lucy, who are already in Wintown starting the search," Erma replied.

"What about Wendy?" Joel asked, looking concerned, "Who's going to help her with the facility-finding?" Why did he have to ask so many damn questions? We were wasting time!

"Things are getting more serious," Elita put in worriedly, "We had to change things around. We called up Danielle from Pueltown to help out Wendy. Barlow's going to watch Pueltown for her while she's gone, considering it's such a big city. Crawford will take over at Vientown."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" I asked impatiently, for the first time since I had first become a ranger feeling the need to go. I couldn't stay here in the safety of this building any longer. I couldn't be safe while she was in danger. It didn't seem fair.

"No," Erma shook her head, "and I'm sure you're eager to get going." She smiled almost sadly at me and I felt a surge of resentment. Why was everyone pitying me today? It wasn't me who got kidnapped. It wasn't me who was in danger of dying. Erma gave us the nod to leave and I took off for the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Spenser, wait," I heard Joel call after me. I made it to the second floor before he grabbed my arm and whirled me around. "What is going on? Spenser, you need to calm down. I know this isn't good news to take, but-"

"Joel, just let go of me," I growled back at him, not even realizing what I was doing anymore, "I don't care if you're my best friend, I swear to Arceus, you had better get out of my way." I was threatening him. I was threatening Joel, my best friend since I entered Ranger School at twelve years old. The guy who was had been my rival, but had stuck with me through thick and thin. But why was he doing this? Couldn't he see that I was being torn apart inside?

We were staring each other down, eye to eye, my blue ones to his gray. He wasn't backing down. "We are going to talk," he finally said, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the nearby empty Situation Room, apparently where we wouldn't make a scene. His force took me by surprise and I put up little fight. I didn't expect him to drag me away somewhere.

"You need to talk to me, Spense," he told me, shoving the door shut and standing in front of it. I glared at him. He wasn't moving from the door.

"There's nothing to talk about," I shot back, starting to pace.

"That's bullshit and you know it," he answered, his eyes watching me steadily, "You are too pissed and bitter right now to be anyone like the Spenser I know. We are going to meet up with Sven and Lucy in a little while, and I will not have you taking this out on them because they do not deserve it. If you have to rip someone's head off before you can calm down, then let it be me because I know you and this is not how you want to be." He was right. I could at least acknowledge that. I didn't want to be this way, but I had to. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know who I was any more. Somehow, Solana being gone had changed everything. For the first time in my life, I was so scared I could barely breathe.

"Joel, just move," I hissed, rolling my eyes. I needed him to move right now so badly. I didn't want to start a fight. I didn't want to say things or do things that I was going to regret and now that was exactly the type of thing I might do. "You don't have to protect your girlfriend from me."

"You think I'm doing this for her?" He answered incredulously, "Lucy can take care of herself- I'm not worried about her. It's you I'm worried about. I'm worried that if I let you out of this room before you calm down you're going to do something reckless and get yourself killed."

"So basically, we're not going to leave until I calm down," I stated flatly, taking a few steps closer to Joel. He had to be kidding me. He didn't understand. I needed to find her now. And he was right about me being reckless because I was going to do anything to get her back safely. At this point, my safety wasn't important.

His gray eyes stayed unmoving. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

I stood there for a moment, weighing my options. There was no way in hell I was going to sit here while she was out there. There was only one way to do this.

That was when the first punch flew. I caught Joel a good one right on the cheekbone and his glasses went flying off. He didn't move for a moment, but then suddenly all his weight went into a punch that slammed into my jaw, making me see stars. I swung at him again, the door forgotten, just wanting to get my anger out on something.

"Don't you get this?" Joel yelled at me as he dodged my close range punch, "I'm trying to take this hit with you, Spenser. But you won't let me."

"Don't even try to act like you know what's going on," I roared in reply, grunting as his fist connected with my rib cage. "You may think you're helping me, but you're not."

I rammed into him, pinning him up against the wall. He managed to hit his elbow into the side of my head, loosening my grip, and slipped free. I swung again at him, this time connecting with his nose. He retaliated with a hard right hook to my eye. That was when we really started the full-blown fighting in the middle of the Sit Room, going punch for punch, neither of us getting the upper hand. Finally he hit me with a sucker punch I didn't see coming and I crumpled. This was when he refused to fight, looking down at me on the ground and shaking his head. "You're not yourself, Spenser, and I won't let you kill yourself over this. You have to stop," he offered me a hand, but I couldn't take it. I stood up myself, still glaring at him, but not punching him anymore.

"Over this?" I hissed back at him, feeling the empty feeling coming back to me, "You won't let me kill myself over this? Well, Arceus, then what will you let me kill myself over? You don't get it. I goddamn love her, Joel. I've loved her for the past four years. But let's just pretend that doesn't matter. Even if I didn't love her, she's my Ranger and I'm responsible for her. It doesn't matter where she goes or how long it's been, she's still one of my Rangers. And I wasn't there for her, Joel. I wasn't there."

"She was all the way on the other side of Fiore when this happened," Joel retorted, trying to make some sense of what I was saying. But he had me talking. He had me talking when all I wanted to do was beat the crap out of somebody. "Whoever's fault it is, it would be ridiculous for you to say it was yours."

"I'm not saying it's my fault," I tried to explain what I was feeling, but it was too hard and the feeling was too intangible. The only thing I could think of was our fight, and it kept coming back and back around in my head. "I just should've told her how I felt," I answered vehemently, "I was too proud to just be the one to make up with her. It was just so stupid. She should know how I feel about her and I didn't tell her. I let her walk away. You told me not to and I did anyway." I closed my eyes, realizing how much I hated myself for that.

"Then we'll find her and you can tell to her then," Joel stressed, somehow knowing that it was just what I needed to hear, "And yes, I'm saying 'we' for a reason, Spense. You have me, Sven, Lucy, and all the resources of the Ranger Union. You're not alone in this, so don't pretend you are."

I leaned against a wall of the Sit Room, thinking for a second. I didn't know how to get through this. It was the uncertainty of not knowing, the fear of not finding her in time, the frustration of knowing she was out there, needing someone, and not being able to get there. I loved her so much it hurt. I had gotten just a taste of it at the Relic as Solana had prepared herself to face the Darkrai. Now, I couldn't stop the hurt. "Please don't block me out, Spense," Joel finally pleaded, "Cause if you do that, I really won't know what to do. I'm here for you."

I took a deep breath, calming myself down finally. There were so many things going on and so many variables, but I knew at least one thing. The moment I couldn't trust my friends was the moment I had lost everything. No matter what happened with Solana, I had Joel. I couldn't hate him for being the one between me and the door. By that action, he had made me realize he was the closest thing to a brother I was ever going to get.

"Okay, Joel, I promise I'm ready," I nodded.

"You're not going to be reckless?" He asked, eyes hesitant.

"I won't be reckless or stupid or angry," I shook my head.

"And you won't hit me again?" Joel said, half a question and half a statement.

I grinned weakly, "I won't hit you again."

"Good," Joel replied, sounding more upbeat than before, "I'm glad that's over with. Cause, honestly, you have a mean right hook."

"Your fighting skills improved a lot," I managed to tease him, feeling a little bit better myself as well, "I remember a few times in Ranger School that Elita was able to pin you down." It felt good to remember those days, when all that was on the mind was what partner Pokemon I would get, what base I would be assigned to, and whether or not Joel was going to kick my ass in the next capturing challenge.

Joel made a face at me. "Just being around Lucy has improved my evasion skills. You couldn't even imagine the amount of times she's taken a swing at me."

"Oh, I can imagine pretty well," I grinned at him. He rolled his eyes.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah," I nodded, feeling the last of my anger drain away, "Yeah, let's go."

"Uh, we might need to clean up first," Joel pointed out, retrieving his glasses. I was sure I had as much blood on my face as he did.

"If anyone asks, we fell."

"Both of us?" Joel asked skeptically, "At the same time or separately?"

"At the same time. A chain reaction type thing. You tripped and knocked into me. Separately would be too suspicious."

"Us coming out of the sit room with blood on our face and black eyes is going to look suspicious either way."

"Ah, we'll leave most of it to the imagination."

"Sounds good to me."

"By the way, you did acknowledge that Lucy was your girlfriend."

"No I didn't!"

"You didn't correct me when I said it.

"Uh… Oh."

"So then she is your girlfriend!"

"No, at least, she doesn't know that yet."

"But you wish she was."

"Spenser! We are not going to talk about this right now or else we may get in yet another fight."

"You're my best friend, Joel."

"I'd better be. After taking that first punch from you."

"You gave as good as you got, buddy."

"Yeah, you got a little something on your face."

"Blood?"

"And a black eye. And guess who put it there."

That was when I decided I was naming my firstborn child Joel.


	19. Chapter 19

**Haha, next chapter! Sorry about the wait, guys, I've been crazy busy with stuff. :( But, never fear, I have not given up hope! I will finish this story if it's the last thing I do! **

**Anyway, besides that, I would like to get your opinion on what you want to see more of by the end. I mean, we still got a lot more coming, but I'm extensively planning it now and I want to know what you guys want! More of certain shippings, characters, situations, whatever you guys think. Just include it in your review! I love hearing feedback, so go crazy! And don't worry CSF, there's some Joel/Lucy right in this chapter right here. :) Enjoy!**

**Sven**

Lucy and I were outside the Wintown Ranger base when Spenser and Joel arrived.

"What the heck happened to you guys?" Lucy immediately asked, catching sight of Joel's split lip and Spenser's black eye.

"We fell," Joel explained shortly, turning to me, "What are we doing first?" This was the first time I had seen the poor kid make eye contact with me pretty much ever. Good for him. Although I still didn't trust him anywhere near Lucy. But, as Lucy and I had talked about, she was a big girl and made her own decisions. She made it clear that she could take care of herself and I understood. However, she did say that I could still occasionally intimidate him. Just for fun.

"You fell?" Lucy asked incredulously, not letting this go for the world, "So the ground gave Spenser a black eye."

Joel rolled his eyes. "Yes, Lucy, if that's what I said happened, that's probably what happened. Spense tripped down the stairs at the Ranger Union and knocked into me and we both fell all the way down the stairs. Any more questions?"

"Why do I have to be the clumsy one?" Spenser grumbled, meaning for it to only be heard by Joel.

"What did you say, Spenser?" Lucy asked, a mischievous look on the petite ranger's face.

"Nothing," Joel snapped.

"Well, jeez, Joel, you don't have to be so touchy," Lucy replied, smirking, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Spense can speak for himself."

"Don't give me that smirk," Joel retorted, a bit grouchily, "It's not like I'm hiding anything."

"Well, you don't do a very good job of not acting suspicious."

"I'm not acting suspicious!"

"A little bit."

"Lucy, for Arceus's sake, I am not acting suspicious!"

I cleared my throat. I was trying so hard to follow what Lucy said. She said she could stick up for herself and I no doubt believed her, but I couldn't help but want to jump in. Unfortunately though, the two of them continued to ignore me and would've kept on fighting had Spenser not spoken up.

"Okay, guys, let's break it up," Spenser cut in smoothly, stepping between the two, who look as if they may come to blows any second, "Joel, you don't need your pretty-boy face any more messed up or else your fan-girls back in Fall City may start taking an interest in me and Jackie instead. Besides, can we maybe remember what we came here to do? Believe it or not, but it is not so that you guys to have a brawl in front of the Wintown Ranger base."

Both Joel and Lucy looked away guiltily. Something about the tone of the end of Spenser's little speech confirmed what I had guessed at for a while. Spenser definitely had feelings for Solana and they weren't going to just go away. This mission meant more to him than any other mission had previously before. He would do anything, be anyone, and go anywhere to get her back. I didn't know him as well as Joel, but we were friends and I could tell he was hurting inside.

"I was thinking we should head over to the site where Solana and Alyssa disappeared," I voiced the plan Lucy and I had made before aloud, "If we can find anything there, we can use it to track these goons down."

"Okay," Spenser nodded, "So, where's that?"

"A meadow in the mountains that Alyssa likes to go to," I explained, "Freddie told me about it while Silent Chris, kind of, helped, I guess. Moral support maybe, seeing as he was just , well, silent. More than usual. I think got in the habit of watching out for Alyssa and he feels even worse about what happened. Everybody seems to be blaming themselves." I shot a discreet look at Spenser, worried for him. He'd better not be even thinking about blaming himself, especially when he was all the way across the region from Solana when it happened. But he would find a way. He was very protective of his Rangers.

"All that matters is that we know how to get there," Lucy put in, recovering pretty quickly from her spat with Joel.

"Then let's go," Spenser said, looking a bit antsy. I didn't blame him. I was worried about Solana too. Although me and her had never really been very close, I had always admired her skill as a Ranger and her spunk, especially when it came to putting Spenser in his place. We had to find her and Alyssa.

Besides, I had promised Kate. She had voice-mailed me not too long after Keith had managed to calm her down and made me swear to do everything I could to find Alyssa. Like, pinky promise, no crossies, hope-to-die, stick-a-needle-in-my-eye, the whole shebang. In girl terms. Believe me, I would never say any part of that out loud.

"You ready, Sven?" Lucy asked, turning her gaze toward me. It seemed I had been elected the unofficial leader of this little party we had going on. Seniority by three years- more than that over Lucy- could come in handy every once in a while. I pulled down my hat, sending a look over at Luxray, who flicked his ear lazily back at me.

"Let's do this."

**Joel**

I could get over this Sven thing. I mean, I had to. For Solana and Alyssa and Spenser. Well, for Spenser's sanity, at least. He was still on the edge here, I could feel it. However, he would hate me babying him at all. I had to give him his space and let him deal with this on his own now.

Lucy was another story. It was so hard to avoid arguing with her. So hard. But Sven's presence helped some. Arceus, that guy scared me sometimes.

We had made our way to this meadow Sven had talked about. It seemed like a pretty peaceful place, not much going on, not even close to what seemed like a kidnapping spot. "Alright, let's spread out in pairs," Sven ordered, then hesitated. What was he hesitating about? He shot a look at Lucy, then at me. And back and forth one more time. He swallowed.

"Okay, Spenser and I will look toward this half and on," he finally got out, although he didn't sound as if this thrilled him. "Lucy and Joel, you guys get the other half." I swear that his eye twitched. Yeah, he wasn't loving this at all. I couldn't understand why he would put us together if he hated me near Lucy. Then I saw him flick a worried look at Spenser and I realized he wanted to make sure good ole Spense was okay. Spenser missed pretty much all of this, which was probably good, considering he hates being singled out and worried over.

Before we all split up and as Sven was further explaining things, my gaze strayed to his Luxray, who was watching me steadily. No doubt, I was slightly unnerved. A fly buzzed close to the electric-type and with a single flick of its tail, the fly was gone. The Luxray narrowed its eyes at me, as if saying I was next if I tried anything with Lucy. It took a while for me to regain my power of speech after that.

"Quit gaping," Lucy frowned as she pulled me away toward our side of the meadow.

"I swear to Arceus that Luxray just threatened me," I said shakily.

"Probably," Lucy shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not like he hasn't done it before- threatened people, I mean."

I decided that when this was all over I going to try to get Lucy reassigned as far away from me as possible- preferably Shiver Camp. Maybe then I could sleep at night.

"So seriously, Joel, what's the deal with you and Spense?" She asked, the frown still prominent on her face.

"Nothing is the deal," I replied sharply, starting to search for any clues that would tell us what had happened here- footprints, bent grass, basically anything that would say that someone had been here recently. All Pokemon Rangers who had gone to Ranger School had learned basic tracking skills- in order to find a hurt Pokemon- but never had I employed them to find a missing person. Just goes to show how screwed up things were right now.

"Yeah, okay," she snorted, "Like I'm really gonna believe that. I don't think people get black eyes from the ground." I couldn't tell her about our fight. I would never hear the end of it if I did.

"I told you, we fell down the-"

"Yes, I know, the stairs," she rolled her eyes, but starting to sweep the area as well, looking for the same clues I was, "but I have my own theory."

"Okay, let's hear it," I grinned to myself. This would be entertaining. What was she going to say now?

"I think that you took it upon yourself to be the one to tell Spenser that Solana was kidnapped. Spenser didn't react so well, you tried to calm him down, and you guys started beating the crap out of each other, hence the black eye. So, how'd I do?"

I think by my silence she took her guess to be right. "Yeah, guys are so easy to read," she grinned triumphantly, "Their answer to everything is to beat the crap out of something."

I still didn't say anything. I think she took the hint because her voice suddenly got a lot more serious. "How bad was it?" She asked quietly.

I flicked my eyes up to meet hers for a second, but then focused back on the ground. "Bad enough that we started a full-fledged brawl in the middle of the Situation Room," I admitted. Arceus damn it! I told her. Holy Suicune, sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut.

But somehow even she could sense that this was taboo. "It was between you and Spenser," she said after a few moments, "And I'm not going to get into it. Even I can recognize personal moments when I see them. But I have to say that I'm glad you can be there for him. He needs somebody besides Solana, you know."

I didn't know what to say besides, "who are you and what have you done with Lucy"? But that would definitely not be appropriate in this situation. It was just that this was a side of her I didn't get to see very much. I liked it. I liked getting to know her better and, even though I knew it wasn't the best choice for my future state of well-being, I wished I had the guts to ask her out. Just a date to start things out. But if I chose the wrong moment or words, I was scared that she would use it against me during our (frequent) arguments. She would tease me about it and this wasn't something I was comfortable with being teased about. It would change things.

"Yeah, well, he needs Solana more than he admits," I finally replied, feeling a faint blush coming on. Arceus, what was going on with my circulatory system right now? My heart was beating so fast I don't know how it got in all the heartbeats. Why did I feel like this conversation was about more than just Spenser and Solana?

"Yeah, it's scary sometimes how much two people can care about each other," Lucy commented and for a moment, our eyes met. Her chocolate brown and my gray. Arceus, what was I doing? Lucy and I argued. That's what we knew. We didn't have sappy, awkward moments like these. But then if all we felt was a rivalry of sorts, why couldn't I look away?

That was when Sheldion, who had been searching for clues with Dodrio a few meters away, attracted our attention with a cry. Lucy looked away from me, a light dusting of red spreading across her cheeks. "What did you find, Sheldion?" She called out, striding over to her partner Pokemon.

She turned around to look at me a second later, a look of triumph written all over her petite features. "Look what Sheldion found," she yelled, waving a feather, which looked as if it had come from a Chatot.

"Alyssa's partner Pokemon is a Chatot," I murmured thoughtfully, looking around for more feathers. If this Chatot also had a shedding problem, that would be perfect for us in so many ways. I looked up and saw a path leading away from the meadow into the mountains. The feather had been found not too far from that path. Maybe Alyssa had been drawn farther into the mountains before she was taken.

Lucy followed my gaze. "Yeah, we should definitely check out down there," she nodded toward the path. We set off for it, Dodrio and Sheldion close behind. We didn't speak as we followed the path until we both spotted another feather at the same time.

"There!" We both pointed, running toward it. A small fight ensued as to who was going to actually get the evidence and I may have collected a few more bruises than I previously had, but all fighting stopped when we saw the cave entrance a few feet away.

"You think that's where they took Alyssa?" Lucy asked, taking a tentative step toward it.

"It's a good bet," I replied, striding toward the entrance resolutely.

"Joel, stop it, you moron! You have to be careful," Lucy pulled me back, looking me seriously in the face, "We don't want to mess up any footprints they may have left behind."

I was very conscious on her hand wrapped around my arm and the fact that her face actually wasn't very far from mine. Arceus, why do I do this to myself? "Yeah, okay," I nodded, at least respecting what she was saying. If I could even think straight at this moment in time. Which I could- barely.

We watched where we stepped as we walked inside the cave. Sure enough, there was a plethora of footprints inside outlined by the dust on the cave floor. It looked like a whole bunch of people had been here lately. "Are you worried I might mess up this many footprints?" I shot a look at her smugly. She rolled her eyes, for one of the first times choosing not to pursue the argument. Maybe we were maturing a bit. Or maybe it was just the fact that there were two Rangers' lives on the line if we didn't find them.

"Over there," I said quietly, pointing to the back of the cave. In the corner, I saw a tiny slivery something. Lucy, who was closest to that corner, retrieved it carefully.

"It's a tiny Plusle," Lucy showed the tiny piece to me and I recognized it immediately.

"It's Solana's," I started to look around on the cave walls, searching for the clue that might be there, "It's a charm from the charm bracelet Spenser gave her for her birthday last year." Then I found what I was looking for on the walls.

Carved haphazardly on a small portion of the cave wall, hidden in the deepest shadows, were the letters "Kro". I pointed them out to Lucy. "It looks like whoever carved them didn't have time to write out the whole thing," she commented in a hushed voice, "What's your guess?"

"Krokka Tunnel," I replied, running a finger over the messy letters, "Let's get Spenser and Sven over here."


	20. Chapter 20

**Nothing too important to say right now, besides the fact that I feel kind of evil right now for beating Melody up so much. :( Just read. All shall (eventually) be explained. :) **

**Lunick**

"Lunick, what I'm saying is that Solana was kidnapped," Spenser repeated for the third time and this whole thing was just starting to sink in. Spenser, Joel, Lucy, Sven, and I were all standing in front of the Ringtown Ranger base and they were trying to explain to me why I needed to be warned to keep any patrols (aka me) away from Krokka Tunnel.

"Our Solana was kidnapped?" I said incredulously, shaking my head. Spenser looked about to give up, but I continued. "I mean, I get it and all, but how? When? Where? What the heck is going on that someone could kidnap our Solana? I mean, no offense intended, but I would expect Lucy and Joel to spend five minutes in a room together without arguing before I expected Solana to be kidnapped. And we all know how likely that is to happen."

"No offense taken," Lucy added, shooting a look at Joel, who rolled his eyes.

"We don't have a ton of time," Spenser explained quickly, "but we wanted to make sure you and Melody were okay and to warn you to stay away from Krokka Tunnel. That's where we suspect Dim Sun is right now and we don't want anyone getting hurt. Joel called ahead for Fall City and told them, but you guys didn't answer."

"I left my styler in the dormitory and our Operator's taken her week's vacation," I explained.

"Now?" Spenser asked, making a face, "Way to bail out."

"I know," I snorted, not quite sure how much Spenser would know about the strain I had been under lately, "So Krokka Tunnel is where Solana is?"

"That's what we think," Sven answered, pulling his hat down a bit.

"Leader, I want to come," I shot him a look partly of desperation. I was mostly a person who kept my cool, but Solana was my best friend. We had each others backs- always. I taught her the ropes of being a Ranger first and then she taught me a whole crapload after. I was her field experience. I remember feeling pretty dang important the first time Spenser assigned us to a mission together because I knew he was relying on me to keep her safe. And I did. And now look what's happened. The second she's away from me, she's taken. First I lost her to the Wintown Ranger base and now I was about to lose her maybe for forever. I couldn't let it happen.

Spenser gave a hesitant look. I knew Ringtown was short on Rangers anyway and that if I left this base, Melody with her injured arm would be the only one here. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't sit here while my other half was probably scared to death. Uh, wait a minute. This was Solana I was talking about. Just kidding. I couldn't sit here while my other half was most likely two seconds from getting killed cause she kept beating up everyone who came near her.

"Leader, this is really important to me," I pleaded, but he still seemed hesitant.

"I can send one of my Rangers over here while he's gone," Joel cut in, "If things get ugly, we could use the back-up." He flicked a look at Spenser. "But it's your base, your call. If you don't feel comfortable with it, it's up to you."

"Okay, you can come," Spenser nodded, motioning for me to go get my styler, "but make sure you tell Melody and hurry up."

"Thanks," I answered, shooting him a grin as well as Joel for covering for me. I was going to rescue Solana and once we got her out of there, I would never let her hear the end of it.

**Melody**

I was a bit unhappy about Lunick leaving. Well, that was a bit of an understatement. For me, I was furious. However, I wasn't one to let my anger out. I just bottled it up and fumed silently and held grudges. Alyssa would know.

That was why I was angry. My best friend in the world was kidnapped and I couldn't do squat about it. Instead, I had to sit here and "mind the base" until the adults got back. Like they even had one ounce more smarts than me. I bet anything my IQ's higher.

So I silently sulked for the next twenty minutes while they were gone. Lunick had told me to sit by the Operator desk in case they called cause they needed something. The whole base was empty. I had never felt so alone.

I hummed a tune absentmindedly while Pachirisu took a catnap in the patch of sun the window let through. There was supposed to be an area ranger from Fall City coming too. I hoped it was Aria cause I had heard a lot about her from Lunick. I had so many questions for her. Good question, I promise, just also slightly personal questions. She wouldn't mind, I didn't think. I mean, Lunick said she only bites people's heads off sometimes. She's gotten a lot better.

That was when the automatic doors to the base opened and admitted a sketchy-looking guy wearing a Fall City ranger uniform. I stopped him at the inner doors, crossing my arms- even though it was hard with the cast and all- and frowning at him. I wanted to let him know who the boss is around here. Lunick and Spenser had entrusted me with this base and Arceus strike me down before I was gonna let any old someone saunter in. Pachirisu had woken up from her nap and was right beside me, giving me back-up.

"Hey, Melody, right?" The sketchy guy smiled at me, seeming at ease, "I'm the Fall City Ranger that Joel sent over. Is it okay if I get something to drink really quick? I ran all the way over here from Fall City. I didn't want you to be alone any second longer than you had to."

"I was under the impression you were taking the Dragonite Bus," I challenged, eyes narrowing.

"That was if Aria was coming," he grinned back, rolling his eyes, "But she's busy. My rank isn't high enough for the Dragonite Bus. Now could you move, cause I'm really thirsty." He tried to push by me and I realized he smelled faintly of hairspray. What the heck? Pachirisu sensed the danger as well and sparks started to fly from its cheeks as it gave a small growl at the sketchy guy, warning him to back off.

"If you claim to be a Ranger, than where's your styler?" I asked, watching as his eyes widened. He knew I was on to him. He snapped his fingers and a Drapion came flying through the doors, taking Pachirisu out. I was reaching for my styler to call Spenser or Lunick when my head was slammed against the wall and I lost consciousness, seeing only black.

**Aria**

Joel had called me to watch the Ringtown base while Lunick and Spenser were off gallivanting in Krokka Tunnel. I didn't know why they were there or why, but I figured if Spenser, Joel, Lucy, and Lunick were all off on a mission together, it had to be something big. Besides, with me having the connections I did, I had heard a few things from the Wintown base concern two of their Rangers going missing. From what Lunick had told me and Spenser and Solana's relationship, I doubt Spenser was sane at this moment. I had to admit, I was worried about Solana too. Although we did drive each other insane sometimes, we had become good friends and I would never want anything to happen to her.

The Dragonite dropped me off on the second floor of the Ringtown Ranger base before taking off back to Fall City. I pounded down the stairs, my Vibrava fluttering after me, feeling a bit cheerful that I was I was at least doing something different than watch Lind and Keith argue over the tiniest thing. When I left it was which Pokemon could most easily burn down all of Fall City. Keith was for Charizard and Lind was for Moltres. I had been all for them shutting up.

I froze when I saw the small, blonde girl knocked out to the side of the open door that led to the Ringtown rangers' personal quarters. It must be Melody, who I'd heard Lunick describe several times as "the smart-ass cute little girl".

"Melody?" I said hesitantly, turning her over on her back. She was bleeding near the temple and already seemed to have an arm in a cast. She must be getting pretty beat up for such a small girl. She looked no older than twelve, but obviously she had to be fourteen if she was a Ranger here.

She groaned, her eyes fluttering open. "What just occurred?"

I stared at her for a moment, a bit stunned by her word choice. What fourteen-year-old- Never mind. I wasn't going to be mean right now.

She just looked confused for a moment. "A sketchy guy that was of the scent of hairspray thought he could scam me and, and-" she trailed off, "Wait, could you per chance be Aria?"

"Yeah," I answered, more interested in this guy of the scent of hairspray, "What happened, Melody? I need you to tell me that way I can figure this out."

I helped Melody to sit up. Her eyes looked a little bit out of focus and I suspected she may have a concussion in addition to her inured arm. This girl was getting all kinds of lucky breaks lately. "There was the hairspray guy and he was disguised as a Fall City ranger. Of course, he didn't dupe me for a second and I grilled him on a few things. He spooked and knocked me out. Little..." The following words were those that I'd only heard in the less pleasant section of Fall City.

"Oh," I replied, stunned to say the least, "I see. Well, now that I know what you think of him, can you tell me what he seemed to want?"

Melody shrugged. "He kept complaining of thirst and wanted to enter the base. Maybe he was just trying to gain access?"

"Yeah, uh, the gain access thing sounds good," I flicked a strange look at her, then looked over at the door, "Just get your bearings and stay here for a minute while I check this out."

"Certainly," she nodded, resting her head against the wall behind her and rubbing her temples.

I just left to go check out the Ringtown Ranger base. Sometimes there were no words. As soon as I walked into the base, I noticed nothing out of place. Everything seemed normal. I took a look over at Spenser's desk, where copies of every single report sent to the Union from the past three years were stored, and it looked relatively untouched. I scratched my head in confusion. What could this guy have taken? This was going to be hard to figure out. I decided the best thing to do now was to call Spenser. Whatever was going on right now, I didn't like it one bit. Things were heating up quickly and I just hoped we could diffuse things before all hell broke loose.


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay, so, we left off as Aria calls Spenser and Co. back to the base after Melody gets knocked out by a mysterious someone. Now we're heading toward Kate and Keith for a while, who end up having some issues with the Go-Rock Squad. I like this chapter. It started off iffy, but I got in the writing zone and knocked it out. I'm in the middle of finals, so I had to procrastinate a little. :) Sorry for the wait, hopefully when summer comes I can update WAY quicker. Enjoy! **

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* * *

****Keith**

Camped on top of Overlook Ridge along with the whole gang of the Go-Rock Squad, there was much time for reflection. We were heading for Hippowdon Temple, where the Go-Rock Squad claimed Cresselia was. Cresselia and I had a score to settle. Not to be dramatic or anything, but I was looking for some capturing revenge. However, we had traveled a pretty darn long way from the frigidness of Almia Castle and I was quite happy with that. Buizel didn't hate me so much either. But, we still had an small issue, due to the time for reflection that I mentioned earlier.

Kate couldn't sleep.

I could hear her, tossing and turning in her sleeping bag next to me. Heck, I could even feel her, seeing as she kicked me several times, each time muttering a quiet "Sorry" and going back to her sleepless struggle.

After the seventh kick, I broke the silence. "Uh, Kate," I grinned, "Could you maybe stop kicking me?"

"Oh," I could hear the embarrassment in her voice, "Right. Sorry."

"Is there an issue here?" I asked, a tiny bit amused, yet also concerned. I felt Kate's glare, even in the darkness. "I mean, besides the fact that your little sister is kidnapped and we don't know where she is or what's going to happen to her."

If anything, Kate's glare intensified. "Not funny, Keith. This is not a time to be joking around."

"Ahh, you're right," I hastily agreed. Sometimes I didn't know how to act around Kate, especially during these kinds of serious moments. I wanted to be there for her, but sometimes I just said the wrong things. I liked being a jokester. I liked laughing and teasing her. Yet, I cared about her enough to want to make her feel better. I just didn't know how to do it all the time. It was a difficult balance.

"You just say the wrong things sometimes, you know," Kate retorted, clearly feeling a little stressed out.

I flinched. "I know, Kate. I'm sorry."

Kate sighed. "Now you're making me feel bad for snapping at you."

"Well, gee, is there anything I can do right?" I answered sarcastically, getting kind of ticked off as well. I knew her sister was in danger and she was frustrated because she couldn't do anything about it. But it felt like I couldn't do anything right now without her yelling at me.

"You could try a little bit harder," she snapped, finally sitting up to glare at me full-on.

"You keep shooting me down every chance I get," I said incredulously. "How about giving me a chance?"

Kate was about to open her mouth again when an annoyed sounding Go-Rock Quad opened his own. "Okay, so either shut up and go to sleep or go have this argument somewhere else. Please?" I could recognize the voice as Billy, the one I hated the most out of all of them. I thought about saying something rude in reply, but decided against it seeing as Kate already apparently thought I was an insensitive jerk. But we'd had fights before. We would get over it.

Kate sighed. "Let's just make it through the night, okay?"

The next morning was pure chaos.

**Kate**

I grumbled uncomfortably, still half-asleep. It had gotten really hot all of a sudden. And there was a crackling noise in the background that I hadn't noticed before. My nose twitched. Was that… smoke?

I half-opened my eyes, astounded to see the whole forest around us on fire. Let's just say that I woke up pretty fast. But, I stayed calm, knowing that my first priority would be to wake up my certain slumbering boyfriend. I jumped up, shaking Keith awake. "Up and at 'em, ginger," I called grimly. "We got work to do."

Keith groaned. "Five more minutes, Mom."

I looked around in exasperation. That's when I saw the empty spot where the Go-Rock Quad had previously been. I knew there was more to this fire than coincidence. They were a slippery bunch, but they weren't getting away from me now. "Keith, you'd better hurry up. Erma made her famous from-scratch pancakes and Sven and Jackie are eating them all."

This had an immediate effect. "Alright, I'm up," he sat up, looking around bewilderedly.

"Listen, I need you to work on handling this fire," I said hurriedly. "Go-Rock Squad got away and I'm going after them. They couldn't have gotten too far." I had gathered this because rangers haven't even arrived on the scene to put the fire out yet. It couldn't have been that long since the Go-Rock Squad started the fire and ran. We were on top of Lookout Ridge, so someone must have seen it.

Keith was still kind of looking at me blankly, so I waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, Keith, you got it?"

**Keith**

I shook my head to clear the sleep out of my mind. The girl had awoken me under the false pretense that there were pancakes available. She couldn't blame me for having difficulty adjusting to the hard and cruel truth. I wasn't even going to get breakfast.

"Yeah, Kate," I nodded, realizing that it was game-face time. "Just don't get yourself killed at any point without me being there. It would be preferable, seeing as I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to berate me every free chance you get."

Kate rolled her eyes, turning to leave. "Sorry about last night. I was cranky. And I love you too." She took off running, obviously heading for Pueltown. It was the best bet.

I quickly got up, Buizel looking attentive beside me. I was going to need his Water Gun before the day was out. I shot one last look at Kate as she disappeared out of view. That's when I realized.

Her styler was gone from the back of her belt. Not just her styler. Her Vatonnage styler. She was running into trouble with no viable way of defending herself. "Kate!" I yelled, trying to warn her, but she was out of ear range. I looked around. The fire was getting more and more out of control. I had to stop it. I had to stop Kate. I froze. What could I do?

**Kate**

My best bet was that they had headed toward Pueltown. There was a port there, where they could make their escape. I just didn't understand why they chose to get away now. Why wait until now? Plus, they had made a deal with us that was benefitted them when all they were doing was selling out Team Dim Sun. What was going on here?

But I knew I wasn't far behind them. The fire must have been just started because there were no other Rangers on the scene yet. It would have been easily visible from Pueltown and someone must be on their way. If I could just make sure-

Only my quick reflexes saved me as I narrowly dodged a charging Camerupt as it spouted fire and ash. However, I wasn't quick enough to get out of the way as the slightly faster Scizor slammed into me, sending me flying across the path.

I coughed, dust kicked up from my violent trajectory flying everywhere. I was motionless, on the ground, fighting to stay conscious. My head was pounding and I felt like I had just been run over by a Tyranitar. My eyes slitted, I noticed that if I didn't move, that actually was going to happen. My Cranidos stood in front of me, it's stumpy legs set, but I knew it couldn't possibly stop the Tyranitar coming at me. My adrenaline pounding, I gritted my teeth, got up, and threw myself to the side as the giant Ground-type came through, missing me and almost crashing into a tree. My Cranidos saw I had dodged and jumped away as well. It set itself in front of me again and I managed a weary smile and a thumbs up at it. What a good partner Pokemon would do is incredible.

I looked up, noticing the exact four crooks I was looking for about a fifty meters down to path, just watching as their Pokemon did the job for them. I reached behind my back for my styler, determined not to let them succeed in their ambush. It sucks that villians can't engage in a fair fight.

But my fingers grasped at the air as I realized my styler wasn't where it was supposed to be. I twisted around, ignoring the screaming pain of my body as I did so. It wasn't there. It was freakin' gone. I patted down my whole body and looked around anxiously. Had I lost it?

I looked up, bewildered, seeing the four Go-Rock Squad in the distance. I had just enough time to see the smirk on Billy's face as they turned away, and at that instance, I knew. They had only done this to get my Vatonnage styler. That's all they wanted. They played their hand close, let me be distracted by my sister's kidnapping, and took the opportunity when it had come. I was so mad. I couldn't decide whether I was angrier at them or myself.

This whole conflict that had come up had turned me into someone I didn't want to be. I was sending accusations at Sven, snapping at Keith, and allowing myself to be distracted from my mission by my sister. I wasn't doing my job. And now I had paid the price for it. I had always held myself to high expectations and this wasn't good enough.

However, the problem still at hand was figuring out how to avoid these Pokemon without getting killed. They had no grouped together now and were ready to make their next move, with only a Cranidos between me and them. The whole situation was not looking good.

That was when, and when I look back on this I will swear that the timing couldn't have been better, a Hariyama came crashing through the group, putting its muscle to good use. The four Pokemon scattered like bowling pins, well, except for the Tyranitar, who just kind of took a few big steps back to steady itself. Next thing I knew, I was feeling a hearty (quite enthusiastic) pat on the back that I knew had to be from one of my favorite people in the world.

"We saved your ass, didn't we, Kate?" I turned to see Barlow of Vientown's grinning face.

I grinned in reply. "You have no idea." I looked behind Barlow to see both Luana and Crawford, who waved at me before taking out their stylers and focusing on the four Pokemon in front of them. Crawford, as usual, had the goofiest expression ever on his face and Luana, as usual, was rolling her eyes, but trying not to laugh at the same time. Those two made the cutest couple.

"How did you know-"

"Crawford and I set up a joint taskforce thing to put out this fire. Keith was already taking care of it and sent us out to help you. He's worried." Barlow looked at me seriously, and I could tell he had been worried too.

"Can I-"

"Here," Barlow handed me his styler, which was exactly what I was about to ask for. Talk about being on the same wavelength. But he just knew me so well, he knew I was gonna want to go after them.

"Thanks, Leader," I answered, unable to rid myself of the habit of calling Barlow that. "I have to do this on my own."

"I know, Kate," Barlow replied, nodding. "Just be careful. I'd hate to have all that training I put into you go to waste." He cracked that familiar Barlow smile and I almost felt like I was back under his wing at the Vientown base, where I had always felt the safest.

"Just tell Keith that I'm okay and that I'm sorry I had to go without him. There's not enough time."

"I'll let him know. Just take care of what you need to do."

I nodded, feeling relieved. Now I had to fix my mistakes. It was up to me to get that Cresselia and save my sister. First step, get that styler back. And so, ignoring my ever-protesting, sore body, I took off running toward Pueltown. Those crooks better watch out.


	22. Chapter 22

**Finally, here's a look at Solana and Alyssa and how they have been doing. I'm starting to wrap everything up as far as writing the chapters and everything's going good. Here's the next chapter! **

**Alyssa**

I had honestly never been more scared in my life. I was blind-folded and, having previously been knocked out after I delivered the message to my sister, had no idea where I was. I didn't know if it had been hours, days, weeks, or maybe even just the span of a few minutes. All I did know was that I had to pee really badly, my bound hands hurt like mess, and that I felt hotter than a Moltres.

I felt something peck my head. I sat up tentatively. "Chatot?" I whispered. It chattered in reply and I felt a tiny bit of warmth fill me up. At least I had my trusty partner Pokemon. Well, maybe not all that trusty, but at least he kept me company.

"She awake," I heard a gruff voice and my blindfold was taken off. I blinked several times, trying to adjust to my surroundings. I was in what looked like a volcano. Must be Boyleland. It must have been a while, if we had gotten all the way from Wintown to Boyleland. They were on opposite sides of the Pokemon world, pretty much. And talk about two sides of the spectrum. I had grown accustomed to Wintown's cold.

I felt a first thrill when I looked around and didn't see my sister. It was her they wanted. If she wasn't here, maybe things weren't as bad as I thought. Maybe it was just me they had managed to kidnap. I was still mad at myself about that too. I should've known better than to go wandering any further than my meadow. I thought I had heard a hurt Pokemon, so I had followed the noise and ended up in a load of trouble.

That was when I saw Solana's slumped form against a nearby rock and I froze. Arceus! They did get somebody. They got Solana, who had the Vatonage styler anyway. I had been there when my sister gave it to her. I tried to scoot over to her, but whoever had taken off my blindfold blocked me with their thick leg.

"Don't think so," he huffed. "You stay here." I frowned. Who the heck was so giant and had such bad grammar? I looked up to see the largest and stupidest member of the Sinis Trio, Heath, glaring at me. I knew about Heath. He had been the one who captured Keith and used him as bait so my sister would get him the Yellow Gem.

I glared back at him. "How long has it been since you guys kidnapped me?"

Heath just stared at me stoically. I gave up, looking back over at Solana. "Solana," I hissed. Please let her be okay. I didn't like the way she was slumped against the rock. And where was Plusle? "Solana, wake up!"

She slowly came to, moaning. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I replied, still whispering. "I've been knocked out for the past however long it's been."

She opened her eyes slowly, not moving her head. "Ow. Rocks hurt."

"No kidding."

"Where's Plusle?" She said suddenly, her eyes looking around a bit frantically. "I mean, he was right with me and now…" She trailed off, seeing who was coming. "Do I know that person?" I flicked a glance at where she was looking, frowning deeply.

It was the big, bad Mightyena of the Sinis Trio, Ice, flanked by his pink-haired partner in crime, Lavana. Great. Things just got a whole lot worse. Heath was an idiot. Besides his physical strength, he had no real valuable assets. Even Lavana was a big wimp, from what I'd heard from my sister. However, Ice was the one you had to look out for. Even Isaac had told me about him a few times. Ice was apparently the one who actually had a brain inside that granite lump of a head of his. He was the one who scared me.

"Hey," Ice flashed a cold grin at us both, "Looks like my two little Ranger captives are awake."

"You won't get away with this," I answered hotly, "I bet you my sister and half the Ranger Union are on our tail right now."

"It's been two days since we kidnapped both of you," Ice responded smugly, "And I haven't seen any sign of your stupid Ranger friends. No, you little noobs are here to stay."

"I swear, call me little one more time," Solana muttered under her breath, still holding her head gingerly.

"Solana," Ice turned his attention to her, smiling a bit too pleasantly for my liking, "You and I are going to have a little chat. Why don't you come with me?"

Solana didn't move. Ice shook his head.

"I was hoping we could do this the easy way," he said, looking disappointed, "but it seems that you Rangers always have to be difficult." He nodded to the two Dim Sun cronies, who made a move toward Solana. She shook her head vehemently, not saying anything. Then she stood up, glaring at Ice.

"I can walk fine, thank you," she said icily. Ice shrugged helplessly, grinning.

"Lavana, stay here," he ordered, but Lavana was applying her next layer of make-up and seemed to ignore him anyway.

Solana followed after him and I looked on helplessly. What was Ice going to do with her?

**Solana**

I followed Ice back to an isolated cavern, two Dim Sun goons trailing behind us. They stationed themselves outside the cavern while Ice and I both went in. So I get a secret talk with the boss. Gee, I feel so honored. I narrowed my eyes at his back. I wasn't afraid of nobody with hair as blue as his. I mean, Spenser had blue hair, but his was more of a blueish- green.

That thought was a small punch to the gut. Arceus, I hope he wasn't beating himself up too much about me getting kidnapped. I mean, in his strange universe, he would find some way to blame himself and get pissed off about it and get all protective. He did that for all his Rangers. I'm sure. _Yeah, just like he holds hands with all his Rangers, _I reminded myself sourly.

But I quickly focused myself on the task at hand. My eyes scanned the cavern, looking for anything I could out to good use in an escape. I would never leave Alyssa or Plusle behind, but I if I could find a way to get free and get them out too, it could be a possibility. Ice grinned at me as my eyes darted about the cavern.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, we've baby-proofed the area. You aren't going to find anything useful."

I shot him a look of pure venom. Or at least I hoped it was. I couldn't tell because he didn't really seem to be phased by anything. He started speaking and I listened, even though I already knew I wasn't going to like a single thing that came out of his mouth. "So, my little Ranger noob, I have a proposition for you. You have some skills that I need and, if you choose to cooperate, you can even profit from lending these skills to me."

"And would I lose all morality in the process?" I asked critically.

"Let's not think of it in terms of black and white," Ice answered hesitantly.

"Of course," I shrugged, seeing the hopelessness of my current situation, "And once I say no, you threaten to hurt Alyssa or Plusle, who you probably have hidden somewhere, and you keep hurting them until I given in. It's not like this is something new. Villains all over the world have done this. You need to think up of a more original plan, honestly." But for all my brave words, I couldn't hide the truth. I was scared out of my mind. They wanted something from me and they would do anything to get it. Everyone and anyone I had ever cared about was at risk and I hated it.

"Well, if the hostages I have now are insufficient, I can always find someone else," Ice suggested innocently. "Maybe I could find that friend you hang out with so often. Lunick? Is that his name? Or maybe I could just nudge fate a bit. Accidents happen, you know? It would be a shame if something bad happened to him or any of the other Ringtown Rangers." He was so underhanded, so slimy, and I hated him so much right now. I said nothing for a moment, weighing what options I had. Which were pretty much none. He could be bluffing. Maybe there could be no way that he had that much reach. Maybe he was pinned down right now and just needed to convince me that I had no choice in the matter and had to help them. Maybe... I shook my head. All these "maybes" were making my head spin.

"If you need a little convincing as to the reality of my threats, I have a little something for you," he went into the small drawstring bag that he had carried in with him and took out a small book, one that I knew so well from my late nights with Spenser.

"No way," I breathed. It was my journal. I had left it in Ringtown when I left for Wintown, thinking nothing of it since I was only going to be gone for a week or two (to my knowledge). How had they even known about it?

"If you think we don't have the power to hurt those you care about, think again," Ice added, stating the obvious. "We got this right from the Ringtown Base inside the draw of the table next to the green couch. Pretty good, huh?" He grinned, gloating as I fumed. "I'm only halfway through, but it's a good read. It's a nice inside look at the way each of the Rangers' work. Pretty informative."

Arceus, I despised this guy. That journal was a compilation of my five years of work with the Rangers. Almost as soon as I had started, I could feel that I was with this job until I was too old or it killed me. When I wrote those letters to Spenser, all that time ago before I knew him, there was something cleansing about it. I had started this job with writing and I was going to continue it with writing. I had to leave something behind. It was my private thoughts and it killed me for him to be reading them. I grit my teeth, knowing that the decision I had to make wasn't going to be easy.

"I'll do what you want," I admitted with difficulty, seeing no other solution. I would think of something in the meantime. There would be an opportunity before this all came to a head and I would grab it as soon as I got it. The first step was to try to get Alyssa out of here. Then I could move from there. As long as we stayed together, I could keep an eye on her, just like I had promised Kate. Yeah, I was doing a great job of that so far, by the way. When I promised Kate I'd watch over her, I didn't think we'd ever get ourselves into a situation like this.

"Good," Ice said, looking pleased. Okay, before I behaved, I just had to do one little thing. Just one, little rebellious act.

"Ahhh!" Ice yelped. There was an unpleasant sounding crunch as my fist connected with his nose. I grinned. Okay, so I had never been a violent person. Rangers were supposed to be peaceful people anyway. We calm and capture Pokemon instead of fighting them. But that punch felt good. Pretty damn good.

He glared at me through a mess of blood. "Okay, missy, you just got yourself in a load of trouble."

I just met his gaze solidly.

"The only reason you're even alive right now is because we need you," he snarled at me, shoving me toward the opening that led back to the rest of the group, "Because if we didn't, we'd be finding you a nice bed at the bottom of a lake somewhere."

I felt a small chill travel down my spine at his threat, but tried not to show any outward reaction. As soon as they were done with me, Ice definitely had no intention of keeping me around. I'll file that observation away for later. I allowed myself to be corralled back to the main group, showing little emotion on my face. "What the heck happened to you?" Lavana asked, having moved on to filing her nails.

Ice sent her a look of livid anger. "She happened, that's what," I could see he was resisting the urge to kick me.

"Cleared out your sinuses, huh?" Alyssa asked cheerfully, now standing. I shot daggers at her, willing her to swallow the words. She did not need to be attracting attention to herself. I was trying to get her through this in one piece and if she kept making comments like that, it was never going to happen. However, they were already out of her mouth and Ice turned to glare at her. All it took was a quick swing to send her reeling back. Only a second later, she jumped right back up, angrier than I had ever seen her.

"Yeah, sure, hit the little girl," she spat, a cut now prominent on her lip. Heath held her back with his pinky finger and Ice rolled his eyes, dismissing her.

"Heath, I want you to take Solana's disgusting little rat Pokemon back to base," Ice ordered briskly. "Lavana, you take that one," he pointed a dismissive finger at Alyssa, frowning, "and hole up somewhere. As for Solana and I, we're going to take a little trip." He grinned at me and I stared defiantly back, but felt a little spot of despair growing. My "stick with Alyssa" plan was just torn apart. I couldn't think of anything that would change Ice's mind in the slightest. But I had to try something. I couldn't just let them take Alyssa and Plusle away. I couldn't trust Ice to keep them alive.

Ice went back to conferring with Lavana and I was about to try and make a break for it to get Alyssa free when I caught the eyes of one of the Dim Sun goons that had followed Ice and I during our little chat. There was something… familiar almost about him. He shook his head a tiny bit, as if he knew what I was planning on doing. I couldn't tear my eyes off him. Who was he? Obviously someone on our side if he was trying not to attract attention to himself.

Ice's voice jarred me back to attention and I quickly looked away from the mysterious Dim Sun member. "Let's get moving," he ordered, separating Alyssa and I. I let him, trusting whoever was helping us out.

"Don't be stupid, Alyssa," I warned her and she shot me a look, anger still evident in her eyes. Arceus, she was going to do something dumb and get herself in trouble.

I flashed a look back over to the mysterious Dim Sun member. He nodded a bit again, signaling me that I was doing the right thing. I frowned to myself. I didn't like this, but this guy seemed to be on our side. I had to trust him. He must be from the Ranger Union. Maybe one of the lesser-known Top Rangers. Plus, he had to have connections if he had gotten in with Dim Sun. My eyes widened. Connections. Who was it that Spenser had said had good connections? He shepherded me over to Ice, meeting my eyes. I looked at him more closely and recognized who it was.

He was right in front of me. "Jackie?" I mouthed at him, barely making any noise. He grinned and his expression was unmistakeable. I gaped, but shut my mouth quickly before anyone could notice. Yeah, I could trust him all right.


	23. Chapter 23

**Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I enjoy them so much. :) Now, last time, we checked in with Solana and Alyssa and found out what happened to Jackie. Now, we continue with Spenser, Lucy, Joel, and Sven's chase to find Solana. **

**Also, I did another one-shot about Jackie and Danielle, if any of you guys want to read it. I haven't really gone into depth yet with their relationship, but I will. The one-shot will just be an idea of what they're like. So, yeah, enjoy! **

* * *

**Joel**

The dead end we'd found at Krokka Tunnel didn't last long. The morning after our brief stay at Ringtown, we had a tip-off from the Ranger Union about Ice and Co. Lunick was left behind this time, as Spenser almost went berserk that someone broke into his Ranger base and injured one of his rangers when he wasn't there. I swear, Spenser's greatest flaw is that he thinks he should be able to do everything and be everywhere all the time. If anyone gets hurt and he wasn't there, it's like it's his fault. Which is ridiculous.

He also insisted that one of my Rangers stay with Melody and Lunick to give them help. I was about to give him grief about it, but only because he was being so bossy about it. However, I decided that the guy had been through enough already. I decided to keep Aria over here, seeing as Keith and Lind seem to have no personality when they're separated and Sam, Danielle's twin, could cover as leader of Fall City base for now.

Besides, I kinda wanted to throw out a lifeline for Lunick. He seemed like he was drowning. A bit.

Anyway, somehow, the Union had found out that the crooks with Alyssa and Solana had been reported to be in Boyleland. Not just Boyleland, but the Boyleland Volcano.

I guess we were going to see Sven's cousin.

**Lucy**

I very much got along with the quiet area leader of Boyleland, seeing as she was both kick-butt when you crossed her and Sven's cousin. Plus, she was really saving our butts here. I would be wandering around for hours through this volcano if it wasn't for her. Like a real Area Leader, she had taken the initiative to know her turf like the back of her hand, which was turning out to be quite helpful.

We were nearing the center of Boyleland Volcano quickly. Rena was leading the group of me, Sven, Joel, and Spenser through the lava-filled area. "How much farther, Rena?" Joel called up to the front. He was bringing up the rear along with Spenser. The two of them had been inseparable the past two days. It was obvious Spenser needed a friend at this time and Joel was there for him. I was glad of it and I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of my guy. And yes, I also found myself thinking of him as my guy. I didn't even want to go into the physiological effects of that thought because I definitely did not feel anything but the spirit of Ranger comradery for Joel. That's all there was to it.

"Just across this section and then around the next bend," Rena replied, her dark eyes fixed on the turn in front of us. We were currently crossing what looked like to me as not the sturdiest bridge across a lava pit. I nervously looked over the side.

"It's probably better if you don't look," Sven advised me and I could hear the grin in his voice, even though he was behind me. I snapped my gaze back up, focusing on Rena's dark ponytail in front of me. Sven had been great these last two days, serving as a leader for our small group. He had the most experience and was the oldest, obviously, but it was also evident how much everyone else in the group respected him. Still, I could tell he missed Wendy though and he worried about her. After what was going on with Spenser and Solana, it was written all over his face. I knew she would be fine. We female Top Rangers have a way of coming out okay.

Shieldon made a nervous noise beside me, shooting me a glance. Even in the relatively open space of the volcano, Shieldon was nervous. He hated confined spaces and the rock walls around him weren't helping. But, he was also wouldn't let me out of his sight. His protective side won out in this instance. It was too big a mission to miss out on.

We finally reached the bend that Rena had been talking about and she stopped us for a moment with a raised hand. "There's definitely someone in there," she whispered and I peered past her. I could see a blue-haired guy who I could only assume was Ice and his pink-haired counterpart, Lavana. They were exchanging hurried words and then Ice left, going toward the back of the volcano.

"It's Lavana and Ice," I whispered back to the group, "and a few other Dim Sun cronies. No sign of Heath though."

"Solana?" Spenser asked hopefully.

I took another look around the corner. I didn't see the blue-haired ranger anywhere. But I did see another shape behind Lavana. "No," I turned around, replying apologetically, "but I do see Alyssa. Solana can't be too far away."

"You see Alyssa?" Sven craned his head over my shoulder. I've suspected that he and Kate had a talk and that Kate made him promise to get Alyssa back no matter what it took. She must be so frustrated not to be here.

"Here's the plan," Sven gathered the five of us together with a certain dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Lucy, Joel, and I will rescue Alyssa. Spenser, you and Rena follow where Ice went and see if that's where Solana is. Rena, make sure Spense doesn't get lost. Sound good?"

I flashed a look at Joel. He looked businesslike, yet a tiny bit apprehensive. It was gonna be me, him, and Sven working together. Having Spenser and Rena had created a buffer zone so that the three of us didn't interact all that much. Now that buffer zone was gone. I grinned at him and he caught my look, rolling his eyes back.

"Okay with me, Sven," Spenser replied, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of kicking some Dim Sun ass.

"Sounds good, cuz," Rena replied, looking equally excited. She and Sven both seemed to perk up whenever it was butt-whooping time. It must be because they're cousins. Is bloodthirstiness genetic?

"Yeah," Joel nodded when Sven's gaze rested on him.

He turned to me and I smiled at him, "Let's rock and roll."

"Alright, then," he nodded, "Rangers, move out."

Spenser and Rena took the long way around the center, circling the edge of the platform so to attract as little attention as possible. Sven, Joel, and I strolled causally toward Lavana, who just watched us coolly, a Charizard at her side. I saw Alyssa's face light up as she saw us approach. She was flanked by two Dim Sun goons and had her hands tied, so it didn't look like she was getting anywhere.

Lavana tossed her hair, a smirk evident on her face. "Too late, Rangers," she said sadly, shaking her head, "You missed the main event. But don't worry, we've got a nice after-party set up for you anyway."

I saw the lava rise behind her and I gulped. More giant Pokemon? A huge Heatran pounded out from the lava, not saying a thing but looking as scary as anything anyway. "Oh, seems you've disturbed the guardian of this place," Lavana grinned, looking unconcerned. "Well, have fun."

She hopped onto the Charizard beside her and grabbed Alyssa with her. It took off back toward the way we came, leaving the two Dim Sun goons clueless. I looked around for any flying Pokemon that could help us, but saw nothing. We were in a volcano anyway. How many flying Pokemon were there going to be?

Then it hit me. Spenser and Joel had rode Spenser's Fearow here while Sven and I had rode Wintown's Dragonite Bus. Spenser and Rena were out of sight by now and Spenser would probably need his partner Pokemon, but the Dragonite was probably still at the Boyleland base resting up before flying back. I grabbed my styler, sending the message.

"What the hell are you doing?" Joel pulled me out of the way as Heatran's Flamethrower hit the spot where I had been a few seconds ago.

"Calling the Boyleland base for the Dragonite we left there," I replied, waiting for the reply that Boyleland had gotten my message.

"Could you maybe do it when we were in a bit of a safer area?" Joel asked sarcastically as we dodged another Flamethrower. My styler dinged with a reply from Boyleland. The Dragonite was on its way.

"Capture on," I heard Sven's voice and he began the mountain of capturing this Heatran. His face was impassive, as it mostly was. He was always so calm and collected. Luxray beside him was calm as well, standing by his ranger's side just in case he needed him.

"Sven, the Dragonite is on its way," I yelled at the hat-wearing ranger, "Can Joel and I follow Lavana in pursuit?"

Sven narrowly dodged a burst of fire. "Yeah, go," he replied, flashing a grin at me, "I can take care of this big guy." We were about to go when Sven yelled something else to Joel.

"Don't let her out of your sight," he told him sternly. Joel nodded, looking like, for the first time, he wasn't scared of Sven. Good for Joel. Maybe there's a relationship there that would start to build on respect. It would be good to see two of the main guys in my life form a truce. Even though then I can't threaten Joel with Sven's retribution.

I looked down to see Shieldon looking at me questioningly. I felt a pang of guilt for leaving him behind after he braved his claustrophobia to come with me, but I had to. Besides, he could be back-up for Sven, who might need it if this craziness kept up. I could put him inside his Pokeball, which we Rangers only used when traveling with our partner Pokemon, but I knew he could be of some use to Sven in a tight spot. "Stay and help," I told Shieldon reassuringly. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

"You too, Dodrio," Joel directed toward his partner. Then we were off. He ran past me, grabbing my wrist as he did. Even the most basic touch of his hand around my wrist sent a surprised jolt down my spine. I didn't mind it. Maybe a few weeks ago, I would've, but right now I didn't and that scared me. Why was I so attracted to him even though all we really ever did was fight?

There was something wrong here.

We were running back toward the entrance, where Lavana had disappeared to, when the Dragonite came speeding at us. He stopped neatly in front of us and I was glad that we would have his aerial skills against Lavana. Our Dragonite trainers knew their stuff.

"C'mon, Luce," Joel stopped next to the Dragonite, hesitating before he got on. That was his mistake.

I jumped for the front. Joel was way too slow when it came to my tricks. "Haha, Joel, gotcha again!" I grinned broadly, realizing that this was one of my favorite parts of our relationship. He was a horrible loser.

Joel made a face and grumbled as he climbed on the back, most of it unintelligible.

"Let's just hope this Dragonite can hold you, post-donuts," I smirked, not even bothering to look at his face because I could already picture it in my head. I gave the signal for the Dragonite to rise, ready to take back Alyssa for Kate and give Lavana no quarter. I've had enough of Team Dim Sun causing trouble.

"Just don't do anything reckless without talking to me first, Lucy," Joel put in as we rose off the ground, starting to move forward. "Actually, strike that. Don't do anything reckless."

We were starting to speed off now as I searched the space in front of us for any sign of Lavana. We exited the volcano in only thirty more seconds as Dragonite put on the speed. I grinned in response to Joel's request.

"No promises, Joel."

I love how much I drive him crazy.

**Spenser**

I followed Rena past Lavana and Alyssa, my mind only thinking about one thing. Sven, Joel, and Lucy would be fine, I knew that. I had to worry about my mission now. Rena was leading me farther back now and I remembered her saying something about a secret harbor back here. Maybe that was Ice's escape route. I hoped so. I could deal with boats.

It turned out that my hunch was right. We rounded the corner to see a giant boat slowly pulling away. It was too far for me to swim after, but, luckily, I had the best partner Pokemon in the world that could also fly.

"Fearow, have I mentioned how much I love you lately?" I asked my partner, who gave me a look at the news that he was actually going to have to do some work.

Rena looked hesitant. I knew she couldn't come with me. She had a base to look after here and with everything going to the dogs lately, she couldn't afford to go gallivanting off on some rescue mission. I was just glad that I had Lunick to cover for me or else I would be in the same position.

"Rena, I can take it from here," I nodded to her and saw her relief. She had been trying to figure out how to tell me.

"You know that I would go if I could," Rena's dark eyes were serious as she met my eyes. "I have too many responsibilities. But be careful. My cousin actually likes you."

"As opposed to Joel," I laughed, feeling that streak of recklessness come out of me again. Joel and I clashed terribly because of my recklessness when I was in Ranger School. Our different views on things had set us apart and although we had managed to get the best out of that, I still had that reckless rush every once in a while. It meant that I was ready for a mission.

"Now, Fearow, I want a quiet approach. It's gonna be all about the sneak attack."

Fearow cawed in response, looking disgruntled. I patted him on the head, preening a few of his feathers. "Try to be a good sport, bud. It's about Solana."

He nodded, accepting his fate. As he flapped his wings experimentally, I climbed on, settling myself on his broad back. "I'll see ya, Rena," I grinned at her, more ready for this than anything else. Fearow started to take off, powering off the ground with strong, steady strokes.

"Bye, Spenser," she waved, starting back toward the inner volcano, presumably to help Sven, Lucy, and Joel. I hoped Joel wouldn't worry too much about me. He worries a lot.

Fearow officially took to the air as we glided after the ship and my eyes searched it for a good place to land. This was what I had wanted ever since I had first heard about what happened to Solana. I just wanted to find her and, if Ice was on this boat, there was a good chance she was. Or, at least Ice would know where she was taken.

Here I come.


	24. Chapter 24

**So this chapter is totally Spenser/Solana. :) I had to give one to them. Once I got into it (which took a while, surprisingly), the second half pretty much wrote itself. After this though, I'll go back to alternating between people. Most likely between Spenser/Solana/Jackie and Lucy/Joel. Maybe Sven/Rena too. So, yeah. Thanks for all the reviews before and enjoy! :) **

**Spenser**

Fearow landed lightly on the back deck of the ship and, for yet another time, I praised his flying skills. However, the need for silence was key and I merely gave him a satisfied pat before telling him to stay outside. I didn't want to attract attention to myself. Besides, I'd seen a Chatot flying around that had looked suspiciously familiar. I guess I know knew how the Ranger Union had been getting all those tip-offs. Jackie was the best at what he did.

First priority was to get a uniform. Second was to figure out where the heck Solana could be. Both were delicate missions, ones that definitely needed the practiced hand of a Ranger Area Leader.

The first Dim Sun I found ended up with my arm at his throat. I always did pride myself on my tact.

"So, you're going to tell me a few things, buddy, starting, yet not ending, with where you're keeping the ranger prisoner," I told him, rather good-humoredly, as he almost spat in my face.

"I won't tell you nothin'," the grunt replied, although I could tell he had a hint of fear in his eyes. I felt back for the guy, who sounded like he might come from the docks of Pueltown. He had that accent, almost like how Danielle spoke when she got really angry, which, with Jackie, was more frequent than either of them would like to admit.

"That's what you think, bud," I shook my head, smiling to myself. I hadn't got this far up the Ranger ranks for nothing. And with Solana on the line, there was no way he was stopping me.

A few minutes later, I was on my way to Solana's cell.

**Solana**

I was tied up and put on a frickin' boat. I even had my own little cell in the form of a storage room which was full of life jackets and inflatable rafts. At least I would have flotation devices if the ship sunk. Of course, I would have to get out of the room first and all, but I could still see the positives. Somehow. Even though it was me and Jackie against countless Team Dim Sun lackeys and Ice. That is, if Jackie even had some semblance of a plan. I have long since suspected that he bullshits most of his way through life. Danielle has only solidified those suspicions.

I felt us start to move. I had no idea where we were going or how long I would be tied up in here. And I was worried about Alyssa. Jackie had told me to let her go, but I was still worried about her. Kate had always seemed so happy and carefree when I had talked to her. I couldn't see her as being that way right now.

My thoughts soon turned to Spenser as well. It seemed such a long time ago that we had that stupid argument about the Darkrai. I was, however, still right. He never told me not to tell-

I sighed, fidgeting to mess with the rope tying my hands behind my back. Here I was tied up on a ship still ready to argue my point. I was so stubborn sometimes.

That was when the door opened in front of me. My eyes flew upward toward whoever was coming in the room, hoping that I wouldn't see Ice's ugly mug come through that door. It was a Din Sun uniform, but it wasn't Ice.

"Jack," I sighed as the blonde Top Ranger bent down to untie me. "About time. I thought I was gonna have a headful of gray hair before you decided to get here."

"Yeah, yeah, quit your whining," Jackie answered, making a face at me. "You all in one piece?"

"Yup. For better or worse," I rolled my shoulders, trying to work some feeling into my arms again. I wasn't in the most comfortable position.

"Good," Jackie replied, undoing the last of the knot. "We wouldn't want Spenser on my ass."

Damn Jack Walker and his inferences.

Finally, the rope was off and I was free. The first thing I did was stretch out my arms, feeling my muscles work. That felt good. Jackie watched me critically as I did a few more stretches. "You ready yet?"

I let out a deep breath, focusing on what I had to do. "Yup. Got a plan?"

"Steal another uniform for you, get you a hat or something, and sneak our way up to Ice. Beat his ass, take back the Vatonage styler, and be on our merry way," Jackie explained simply.

"Wow, Jack. Going undercover. That's so not your style," I retorted sarcastically, grinning wickedly at him.

"Do not appreciate the sarcasm," Jackie answered good-naturedly, making for the door. I wasn't far behind. "Arceus, you reminded me of Danielle for a moment there. Now there's a girl who has a smart-ass comment for everything."

"You'd be surprised what I can do when I put my mind to it."

"Okay, wait here for a second. I'm gonna go knock someone out."

"Wow, Jack. You sound so tough when you say stuff like that."

Jackie grinned at me. "I know. It comes naturally."

The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway promptly stopped their talking. Jackie cracked his knuckles, ready to take someone out right here and now. The footsteps got louder as whoever it was came closer. Right before they were on us, Jackie snuck out, ready to pull out a quick one-two to knock 'em out. I stayed behind the door, waiting for Jackie to tell me to come out. I didn't want to get in his way. Regardless of how much I teased him, he knew what he was doing.

There was the brief sound of a scuffle, but no sound of anyone hitting the floor. That's when I heard a voice that I knew so well from five odd years of working with. "Holy Suicune! Jack! What the heck are you trying to punch me for?"

"I don't know, maybe cause I thought you were Dim Sun," Jackie replied with some bite of his own. "What the heck- How did you even get here?"

"I should've known you'd be undercover-"

"Shut up, walnut-brain. You want the whole ship to hear?"

"Do you know where she is?"

"Where who is?"

"Who do you think?"

I stepped out from behind the door, my legs finally deciding to work. "Hey, Spense," I grinned at him weakly, unsure as to what his response would be. Just seeing him again put those Butterfree in my stomach. Still, as always, things seemed less complicated when he was here. Like no matter what kind of plan we had or what resulted, it would be okay.

Next thing I knew, I felt like I was being hit by an Aggron. Spenser was hugging me so tightly, I think I was going to have to pry him off with a crobar. "Don't you ever do that again," he muttered gruffly into my ear. "Or I will lock you up in a closet back in Ringtown." He let go of me for a second, stepping back to look at me. "I mean, you're okay and everything, right?"

"Yeah, Spenser, I'm fine," I replied, unable to keep the grin from spreading across my face. "I mean, I have one cut up here from where the rocks hit me and maybe some bruising, but nothing else."

"Where?" He asked, immediately pushing aside my bangs to find the cut right below my hairline. "What rocks? What happened?"

Jackie cut in at this moment. "Guys. I feel… awkward."

"Then go away for a minute," Spenser shooed him away as he looked at the cut on my head carefully.

"Really, Spenser. It's fine," I protested as I saw Jack leave out of the corner of my eye. He was most likely going to get me a uniform. Spenser seemed to already have acquired one.

He ran a thumb over it lightly, sending shivers down my spine. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Don't worry about me," I smiled, reaching out for his other hand.

"But I do, Solana," he answered, his face clearly showing anxiety. "I really do. I've been thinking about the whole argument thing. Not to bring up bad times or anything, but you were right. It wasn't fair for me to yell at you. In fact, I don't care who you tell about the whole Darkrai thing. Arceus, if you want to stand on top of Altru Tower with a microphone, screaming it to the world, I wouldn't give a crap." He paused, his expression turning thoughtful. "Although the Ranger Union might. Specifically Elita. She's a stickler for rules."

"I'm okay, Spenser. Really. And I love that you are insisting I'm right. It'll get you places," I grinned at him, still watching his worried expression. It was like it still hadn't hit him that I was actually here and wasn't going to spontaneously combust any time soon. "Look, I don't want to argue with you either. Are we good?"

"Yeah." His response told me we were good, but his expression told me that he was hoping for more. I locked my jaw. Our whole relationship had always been so causal. My hand on his chest. His fingers briefly in my hair. My head resting against his shoulder. Our interlaced hands. Things that otherwise would mean something. But did they? When it really came down to it, was there enough here?

His hand still half-cradled my head as he looked at me in that way he did, as if he still couldn't imagine where he dug me up from. I had been an unknown in so many ways when I had come to Fiore, from a different region, a different city, and a different background. I was his wonder pupil, the one no one even saw coming. He used to joke that he showed me off to Joel all the time, as they were always competing in something. He had been an amazing teacher and an incredible leader, but an even better friend.

And I loved him. I realized this now, at the worst possible time, as we were standing in the same boat that countless other members of Team Dim Sun were also on. And it was cheesy, but I knew it was true. How else could I explain how I felt? And then it just happened.

He kissed me.

It was a feeling I couldn't describe even if I wanted to. It was me and him in a kaleidoscope of emotion, bits and pieces of us mixing together. It was his blue-green hair almost brushing his eyes even though I told him a million times to get it cut. It was the quick flash of his teeth as he grinned wickedly at me, keeping the banter going. It was the laughter, the concern, the seemingly meaningless gestures, that came from five years of Ringtown unity, learning from the best and yet knowing that you could be better. It was so completely, indescribably Spenser that I couldn't have imagined it any other way.

"Er," Spenser looked at me hesitantly, his blue eyes watching for what my reaction would be. "That wasn't planned."

I put my arms around his neck, tugging at his tufts of blue-green hair. My bangs fell in front of my face as I glanced down and then back up at him, but he pushed them away again, his face still anxious. I just looked at him, a grin starting to form on my face.

"Well, Spenser, I don't know," I drawled, trying to keep a straight face. "I mean, you are a lot of work, with me having to keep you in line all the time. But, I suppose you did come all this way and you do have some very nice technique-"

"Solana."

"Yes," I answered, my grin broadening some.

"You are a pain in my ass."

"I know," I scrunched up my nose, giving him my best cute look.

"But I love you for it."

"I know."

"Say it back."

"No."

"I'll kiss you again."

"Okay."

"Still waiting."

"I love you, Spenser."

This earned me another kiss, this time deeper, in which my hands found their way upward into his hair. I only left me wanting more, but I could see Jackie rounding the corner behind me and knew that we probably didn't want to make him more uncomfortable.

"Erm," I cleared my throat, my face still inches from his after that kiss. "Walker at ten o'clock. He's coming back around the corner."

"So?" Spenser asked breathlessly, apparently not at all worried that his best friend was going to round the corner and see him making out with his own ex-ranger. It was rather tempting, but we did eventually have a job to get to.

I raised an eyebrow at him critically.

"Okay, okay," he grumbled, letting go of where his hands had been at my hips.

I arranged myself carefully, gaining my composure before Jackie got back. I glanced over at Spenser, biting back a laugh. "Your hair's sticking up."

He looked at me in surprise like this had never occurred to him. "What?"

"Oh, duck down, you pansy," I leaned over and combed his hair down, laughing. I backed off as Jackie approached.

He looked at us funny, as if not quite sure what to say. "I don't… want to know."

"You really don't," I answered seriously, not even looking at Spenser.

"I… really don't," Jackie repeated, his conviction still the same. He handed me the uniform he'd gotten, still with that same looked of mixed disgust and apprehension. "Here."

I just put it on over my clothes, trying not to think about the habits of whoever had worn it before me. "Well," I straightened everything one last time, fitting the Dim-Sun-insignia-ed hat on my head. "Let's go kick some Dim Sun ass."

Spenser's hand brushed mine as he grinned at me. Apparently he was thinking the same thing.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hehe, next chapter. Actually, not much to say now. Besides the fact that there might be some new characters coming up in the next few chapters. You may know them or you may not, but you'll just have to see. :) **

**Last time: Solana and Spenser made up, which made Jackie feel awkward. Sven and Rena are busy fighting Heatran. Joel and Lucy are chasing after Lavana and Alyssa. Kate is still off on her own while Keith is left worrying about her with Barlow and the Vientown Crew. And… I think that pretty much covers it.**

**Enjoy! **

**Joel**

"Lucy, watch it!"

"Joel, I'm driving this thing, so just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Another flamethrower narrowly missed, singeing my hair. Who would've known that a Charizard could fly and shoot back flamethrowers at the same time? "Just watch out for its Fire Spin too. I would not want to get caught in one of those."

"Duly noted."

We had almost completely caught up, but now was the difficulty of somehow getting Lavana to give up Alyssa without either of us crashing. We couldn't risk one of Dragonite's Dragon Rage's without possibly hitting Alyssa and we couldn't risk pissing it off by trying to capture it. It was a delicate situation. And Lucy said she was driving, but it was mostly the Dragonite. That thing knew how to fly.

Dragonite gave another push, riding the wind at the same time, as he drew us even with Lavana. I could see Alyssa craning around to look at us, evaluating the distance between us. I shook my head as she met my eyes. She just had to stay put. I didn't want her getting hurt by trying to do something on her own. For now, she had to play the good little captive. Up here, high above the trees and skimming the air, I couldn't even think about what were to happen if she fell.

"Listen, Joel, I'm getting Alyssa."

I glanced at Lucy in surprise as Charizard attempted to ram us and Dragonite swerved out of the way to dodge it. We both almost fell off. "Yeah, I'm getting her too. That's what we're doing, Luce," I said plainly, too busy thinking of a plan in my head to notice what she was doing.

"Cover me."

Next time I looked up, she had jumped. She must have timed it perfectly because she landed right behind Lavana, and although she had to scramble a bit to get a good hold, she was safely on by the time I could react.

"I told you not to be reckless!" I yelled, maneuvering the Dragonite back a bit so I could hopefully catch her if she fell off. This girl drove me crazy.

"This isn't reckless!" She answered back over the screeching wind while ducking down to avoid a punch from Lavana. "It's just not entirely diplomatic."

"I swear, Lucy, I'm gonna have a head full of gray hair by the time I'm thirty. And they're all pretty much going to be your fault." I watched, helplessly, as Lucy attempted to take control of the Charizard. This was chaotic.

Meanwhile, I had an idea of my own. Now was the time to get Alyssa. Making sure that we got Lavana was good, but Alyssa was priority number one. I tried not to worry about Lucy falling off as I signaled the Dragonite to speed up a bit. While Lavana was preoccupied with Lucy, who looked like she was having the catfight of the century, I called for Alyssa to carefully maneuver onto the Dragonite. Again, someone had to jump.

I caught her. Arceus, that was close. She beamed up at me, looking just like Kate at that moment. "Thanks so much, Joel."

"No problem, Alyssa," I answered, ruffling her hair and helping her to adjust. "Just hold on tight. We still gotta get Lucy outta there."

I hadn't noticed how close we'd gotten to the treeline though. Charizard dipped precariously from the force of the struggling fighters and I wanted to get Lucy out of there as soon as possible. The fire dragon looked exhausted. After all those Fire Spins and the high speed chase, I wasn't surprised.

It was heading for a crash landing. Even I could tell that.

"Lucy!"

Lucy was too busy grappling with Lavana to hear me. I could tell she wanted Lavana in for good. Locked up so she couldn't hurt anyone else. That was all well and noble, but I was not having her stay on that Charizard when it seemed to be about to skydive without a parachute. The ground was getting way too close for me.

I got closer, hoping Lucy would notice. "Luce! C'mon, Luce! Over here."

The Charizard's nose was dipping.

"Lucy!"

Then it just lost it. Dragonite pulled up as the Charizard hit the deck, billowing up dust as it crashed into a field. Luckily, they didn't hit something worse. Like a lot of rocks. As Dragonite landed, I peered through the dust, searching for any sign of Lucy or Lavana. Mostly Lucy though.

Lavana separated herself from the mess first, coughing as she reached for the Pokeball conveniently resting on her belt. Damn it. She still had Magmortar lying in wait. At the moment though, that wasn't the biggest of my worries. Lucy wasn't so quick to get up.

"Luce?"

She was pinned under the motionless Charizard, probably hacking up half a lung as she made a half-hearted attempt at getting free. I rushed over to her, kneeling down in front of her, trying to guage how she was. Her face was covered in dust and her curly red hair was the same, and I carefully pushed some of the hair that had fallen out of her braid.

"Hey. You okay?"

She nodded, despite the fact that she obviously was not. I motioned to Dragonite and it lumbered over to help, using its strength to push Charizard off her. I checked the Charizard as Lucy sat up, recovering. Its pulse was weak and I was no Nurse Joy, but if we got this over with soon enough and called in back-up, it might be okay.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was watching Lavana fiercely, just waiting for her to make one move. The pink-haired villan's eyes were still watery from the dust and she looked strangely vulnerable. However, that didn't last long as her face transformed into a snarl, some mix between extreme fury and hatred. So much for pity.

"Joel." Lucy nudged my arm and I finally looked at my surroundings for the first time. Some dozens of small, round faces stared at me in shock and apprehension. We just happened to land in the middle of schoolyard of Boyleland Elementary School with the raving lunatic of a woman the Ranger Union had been tracking down for the last two years. The worst part: It was recess time.

**Jackie**

Looked like someone was happy.

Happy wouldn't even begin to describe it. Spenser was practically a new man. While I had been undercover, Joel had told me everything that happened. I mean everything. I could still see the outline of Spenser's black eye. Apparently Solana could too.

"Hey, Spense, your eye looks a little discolored. You okay?"

"Er," I watched in amusement as my blue-green-haired best friend squirmed under Solana's question. "Funny you should ask that, Solana."

However, at that moment, we reached the upper deck. Spenser seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as we paused and Solana glanced around the corner, her face adopting a look of concern. "There are Dim Sun guys crawling everywhere. I don't know if I'll make it to the bridge without being seen. I mean, the undercover idea was good and all, Jackie, but a hat and a uniform doesn't necessarily constitute cover."

I was a bit put out, but, nonetheless, I got her point. "No problem. We'll just think of another plan."

We all looked at each other. I swear you could hear a pin drop.

"C'mon, Jackie, you do this for a living," Spenser complained, seeming to have recovered from his near miss with Solana. I made a face at him, clearly annoyed. I stepped past Solana, peering around the corner to see the many Dim Sun lackeys walking around, doing various tasks. The blue-haired leader of Dim Sun was nowhere to be seen though. Ice had to be skulking around here somewhere. I glanced up to see the stairs leading up to the captain's room, where the wheel for directing the ship would be. That must be where he was. Where ever Ice was, the Vatonnage style was sure to be. My eyes carefully took in our surroundings, observing our assets and liabilities. I assessed the situation and did my job, the one I was paid so luxuriously for. Yeah, right.

"Well, there is something we could do…"

**Ice**

"You, check with the people in the engine room," I directed the order toward the most intelligent-looking of the Dim Sun grunts in my office. None of them really looked all that smart, but I suppose when compared with me, they'd never win.

I snorted in contempt. Heath was a total idiot. Lavana was dumb too, but at least she was attractive. I could always kill some time harassing her. Even Kincaid, who I'd recently been in touch with from the main base, was an imbecile at best. His one, tangible contribution to the Altru Tower scam was the genius professor, but look how that ended up backfiring on us. Let's all face it. I'm the only one smart enough to lead us.

I walked to the window, observing the proceedings that were going on. Everything was going perfectly. We had a Vatonnage styler and a ranger with the skills to use it. While the Ranger Union and that dithering genius professor were busy trying to regain their research and track the Darkrai in the Sekra Mountain Range, I was heading right for where it really was, Chroma Ruins. All thanks to the newest genius recruit, Meagan. She had been so easy to fool, it had been even easier than Isaac. All we had to do was feed her some crap about Isaac holding her back and getting the chance to really do something and she'd eaten it up. She was already jealous of Isaac and that crazy, bubbly blonde's relationship and his purposeful snubbing of her. Plus, it didn't hurt that she had family in the organization.

I was still looking out the window when something caught my eye. What the heck?

It was a Chatot, flitting through the air innocently. I wouldn't have looked twice besides wondering what the heck a Chatot was doing on my ship. They weren't exactly commonly found in the middle of the ocean. And none of my grunts would be pansies enough to have a Chatot for a partner.

That was when all hell broke loose.


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry about the last chapter, it was rather lacking, but this one should be a bit more adequate. :) And new charries! You may be able to recognize them. Nada mas. Enjoy! **

**Jackie**

A dash of intrigue. A sprinkling of confusion. And a whole crapload of action. This was Jack Walker's tried and true method to creating chaos. My younger sister Lydia once called me the master of confusion. Danielle quite frequently accuses me of creating unnecessary (and yet quite clever) diversions whenever we're talking about something I really don't feel like talking about. Basically, when I leave this earth and, well, die, the world will remember me as a master of causing crap. It's a talent and should be treated like one. Let's just say I had a few surprises lined up for Mr. Ice here.

First was Fearow. Let me just say that Fearow can be very helpful, especially Spenser's Fearow, because, despite its lazy attitude, when it decides to get off its feathery behind, it can cause quite a lot of chaos. Kinda like me. Minus the feathery behind.

He swooped over the deck, causing a trail of alarm down the deck and knocking a few grunts on their asses while he was at it. Chatot, Arceus bless his soul, made a beeline for Ice and dive-bombed him, literally getting in his hair so as to cause a disruption in the line of command. With Ice too distracted to yell out commands, our job becomes a whole lot easier. I immediately took off from my position by the stairs and ran to the side of the ship, peering into the water. There had been… there it was.

"Capture on!"

A few more seconds and we had a Gyarados at our command as well. If I hadn't spotted a few of them around earlier when I was on the deck, we would've been a lot worse off. They weren't entirely rare once you got far enough out from land. Part of the spy game was taking nothing and making something of it. I had learned it well. With Gyarados, we had the power. I nodded to Spenser and Solana as Gyarados roared, causing the grunts on the deck to sent scattering. A Dragon Rage in the middle of the deck proved even more effective.

The two Ringtown rangers bolted for the upper deck, Spenser slightly in front, while styler-less Solana covered their back. They were headed for Ice- well, mainly Spenser was heading for Ice- with a vengeance in his eyes I may add, when I heard Chatot's pained screech.

My eyes jumped ahead. Ice had my partner tightly gripped between his two hands, the captured bird's wing at an awkward angle. My heart skipped a beat. Not Chatot. He had been with me through thick and thin, ever since the Manaphy mission, and besides being invaluable as a scout to my job, he was practically my other half. I froze and so did Spenser and Solana. Ice gave us a superior smirk, tightening his grip on my partner. Damn it. I hadn't prepared for a hostage situation. Chatot was a pro, but so was Ice. He knew I couldn't risk Chatot, not after everything we've been through. I hated that villains had that convenient lack of morals.

The situation was stopped in time, like a bug in amber, except the grunts, who had been slowing inching their way back towards us after Fearow and Gyarados had stopped their chaos. My mind was frantically begging for the action to slow down as I reached slowly for my styler, pressing the button that allowed me to talk.

"Any time now would be good."

Seconds later, the blare of a horn sounded as everyone on the deck turned to see another ship plowing its way through the water, only a hundred feet or so away. Riding above the waves like the feather on the wind was the pride of the Rangers and Danielle's favorite ship in the world, The Union. The huge wooden ship rammed into the Dim Sun ship, sending it rocking and almost toppling us all over as we grabbed for something to hold on to. Then, from the sky, a flash of feathers and a moment later, Ice was knocked over, and Chatot wriggled from his loosened grip. Solana rushed forward to gingerly pick him up, while Spenser lunged for Ice, pinning the Dim Sun leader to the wall when he tried to rise.

I shook my head as the Starraptor and his rider landed next to me. It figured he would be show-offy like that. "Well done, kid. Someone taught you well. I doubt even I could've done it better."

Grinning at me broadly from beneath brown hair and goggles, Ben Natsuya patted me on the back. "Good thing we were back in time to save your behind, Walker. For sure no one else was going to do it."

My type of position in the Ranger Union was hard to fill, but, if I were to pick a protégé, it would be Ben Natsuya. When he first became a Top Ranger, I took him under my wing and, despite him being big-boy enough now to go to total different regions, I still thought of him as my boy. He was a total goofball and responsible where I was carefree, but he had that something that a Ranger needed to survive cut-off from his base and on his own. He had a flair for plans as well and for creating chaos, something that I could appreciate. I've never told him this, but I think he recognizes that I respect him. Perhaps if he really wanted to commit, I could teach him everything I know and he could be the next Ranger spy, but every single time we broach the subject, something stops him. I haven't figured what it is yet, but I'm working on finding Ben Natsuya's weakness.

However, I was much more worried about Chatot. I strode across the deck, looking around to see that the grunts had all pretty much fled after the Union chaos and now that their boss was captured. Solana handed me Chatot carefully and I held the bird pokemon nestled between my two hands.

"Hey, buddy. You okay?"

"Okay, okay," he repeated, cocking his head and looking at me with his beady eyes of intelligence. I couldn't help but grin. The pokemon was extremely smart, he just sounded dumb when all he did was repeat after you. I took one of my hands away, while he stood up, and examined his wing.

"I don't think you'll be flying soon," I told him softly, distraught that, once again, he had gotten hurt because of something I'd asked him to do. Putting myself and other rangers in danger was bad enough, but when I put Chatot in danger, who probably didn't much care whether Dim Sun succeeded or not, it was a thousand times worse.

"Flying soon, flying," he repeated, balancing on one clawed foot while looking at me intently.

"Crazy bird," I smiled at him. Solana was still looking at me quietly when I looked up. "What?"

"Nuthin'," she answered, the hint of a smirk on her face. "Just that I finally saw a glimpse of what Danielle sees in you." What was she talking about? I'm quite a desired person and it wasn't because I had a soft spot for a particularly annoying bird pokemon.

I scowled at her. "Well, you better not let Spense hear about that. You might make him punch Joel in the face again."

"WHAT!"

"I'll tell you later." Ah, Spense was gonna kill me for that one. But, there were more important things to take care of. I looked up to see Ben and Spenser exchanging words while Spenser was holding Ice not so gently. Another Ranger had also joined them, a brown-haired girl with the same goggles Ben had, but, let's face it, a much prettier face than Natsuya. I was a bit less familiar with Summer Minami, but from what I'd heard from Ben, she was very opposite him, which I can imagine as very rational and realistic.

I was walking toward them when Solana stormed past me, teal bangs flying and her jaw set. She stopped in front of Ice. "Where is it?"

A hint of a smirk rose to the leader's pale face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The reaction was immediate. She grabbed the front of his shirt, her face inches away from his. "Where is it?"

He stayed silent, meeting her eyes squarely.

"Spenser, could you check the cabin for me?" He didn't ask questions. This girl had a legitimate axe to grind and it terrified most of the people in ear range. Even Spense didn't know how to react and the only person who Solana better than him was Lunick. Most of the time, when Solana was mad, no one listened to her and she ranted for a few hours. There only one who didn't seem phased was Summer, but then again, she and the teal-haired Ranger had gone on a pretty serious mission together six months ago. Something in Oblivia that Ben couldn't be there for. Spense mentioned that she had always been a little different after that mission and the two rangers seemed to be bonded now. I don't know, I'd given up trying to figure out girls when I met Danielle. It stayed in utter silence as the Ringtown leader left.

"Summer?" Of course Natsuya would be the one to break the silence. The kid didn't know when to shut up sometimes.

Summer sighed. "Yes, Ben."

"You think Murph can handle being alone on The Union?"

"I doubt it, but he's going to have to. Besides, Ukulele Pichu's with him."

"Okay."

Spenser came back out, the Vatonnage styler in hand. He gave it to Solana in silence, who put it back in its rightful spot on her belt. "Thank you, Spenser."

He nodded and everyone was looking at Solana, who seemed to have wrest control of the situation. Maybe it was because of her previous predicament in which she had none, or maybe it was just that everyone reaches their breaking point at some point, but she was undoubtedly and irrevocably in control.

Summer broke the silence this time. "Something's not right."

Ben shot her a curious look and she briefly met his eyes before looking toward Solana. Only with a nod from Solana did she continue. "According to the briefing, Dim Sun wanted the styler in order to control Darkrai and this was the only way in which they could. They had the styler and the Ranger with which they could capture it, so wouldn't the next logical step be to head to where it is hidden?" Solana nodded. We were all with her so far and I was quickly realizing why Ben described her as the rational one. "We believe it to be hiding in the Sekra Mountains. By water is hardly a logical choice to get there. Where is this ship going?"

Solana stopped her pacing, her mind deep in thought. She slowly raised it. "We must be looking in the wrong place."

She turned toward Ice, who gave a shrug and a smirk. "You Rangers must not be too bright."

Solana was shaking. "Give me five minutes with him. I swear to Arceus, I will hurt him."

Summer shook her head, walking toward the older Ranger and meeting her eyes. "That's not going to fix anything, 'Lana." She looked thoughtful, turning away. "This is a ship. Someone get me a map."

The request was quickly granted. Ben came back a few moments later with a rolled-up map. That kid always did seem eager to please when it came to Summer Minami. She was good for him, if that was the case. Then again, I had no idea concerning anything about their relationship. Could this be his weakness? I decided to look further into this. This time, instead of voicing her reasoning, she was silent, tracing lines with her finger and mouthing things to herself. I shot a questioning look at Ben.

"It's how she thinks. Just be quiet. She'll tell us afterward."

She spent another few moments looking at the map. Finally, she spoke. "Chroma Ruins."

Spenser arched his eyebrow, waiting for more. "Because?"

"This ship is big, but not fast. If they wanted to get there before the Ranger Union, the place they were going to would need to be close by. Chroma Ruins in right across the channel from Boyleland. This method of transportation allows them to successfully smuggle large amounts of people and hidden cargo." She shot a wry look at Solana. "Plus, it's dark and goes undisturbed. It's the perfect place for a Darkrai."

Solana looked toward Ice. "You gonna say anything?"

His face was as neutral as possible. Even from a spy's point of view, I couldn't read it. Like always, this guy was a pro. I scratched under Chatot's beak absent-mindedly. No one had to remind me of that.

Ben looked up from the map, clearing his throat. "She's right. Everything that she said makes sense."

Solana nodded. "Alright. Spense, call the Ranger Union for me and let them know we're all together and that's where we are headed. We don't have time to loose and we need to calm it down once and for all."

"What about what happened last time we tried to calm it down?" The Ringtown leader asked critically. "I say we go to Chroma Ruins on stand-by. We phone for info on how to properly capture it, but even if they're working on it, we head to Chroma Ruins just to block off the place from anyone else disturbing Darkrai."

That took the wind out of Solana's sails. I could tell she wanted to take out the legendary and have it done with, but she couldn't ignore the cautions of her former leader. He was right. If it didn't work before, why would it work now? With a tiny bit of disappointment, Solana nodded. "Okay, that's what we'll do."

Spenser stepped back to make the call and I felt my styler rumbling. Someone was calling me? I was still undercover. Ranger Union rarely called when I was undercover, so as not to blow it. I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Jack? It's me. You know I wouldn't call if it wasn't important."

"D," I clutched the phone to my ear. Although she sounded calm, Danielle always was in control on missions. "What's wrong?"

Danielle knew how to give a run down. "First of all, let me just say that I just talked with Sven, who said you and Spense probably have blown up the entire ship by now and that's the only reason I called while you were undercover. So while he's busy doing damage control at the Boyleland Volcano, which seems to be in danger of erupting because of the disturbance with Heatran, Wendy and I need back-up. Let's just say we're stuck in a bit of a mess." In the background, I could hear shouts and Danielle let out a string of swear words, each one barely discernable from the next. That would be her Pueltown side. The one that I loved oh so much. "And the Ranger Union isn't picking up."

"They what?"

"They're not picking up, Walker. Maybe I should repeat a few times?" Ranger Union always picked up. They always had Operators at the phones, 24/7, just in case a Ranger or a citizen in trouble needed them.

"Where are you?"

"Secret base. It's a new one, right down the coast from Pueltown, actually. Disguised as a water treatment facility. I'm pretty pissed I missed it the first time around."

"Danielle, I'm on my way. Just… don't get killed." There were thumps in the background. I could tell they had barricaded themselves in somewhere.

"Good advice, champ." There was a grunt from Danielle's side as she was obviously putting something in place. "One more thing."

"What?" I partially snapped because I'm pretty sure I couldn't take one more thing again.

"They have the professor here. Whenever you last checked with base was the last transmission. They wouldn't have given up Isaac without a fight."

A long train of thoughts similar to the ones Danielle verbally expressed a few moments ago ran through my head. I guess everyone was going to have to learn to survive on their own. I said what I could, the only thing I could, at the moment. "I'll be there soon."

I hung up my styler and everyone stared at me for a good thirty seconds.

"Danielle called?"

Ben was the one who spoke, panic written all over his face. Danielle was a very capable Ranger, one who used to have the same exact job as me before she settled down as a base leader. Her calling for help was the equivalent of me calling for help and that rarely ever happened. Especially if the person I was calling was potentially on a mission of their own. And that wasn't even the half of it.

Spenser came back in. "The Ranger Union's not picking up."

I nodded grimly. "Danielle just called. She and Wendy are barricaded in at the secret base. They can't get out safely. Dim Sun have the professor. Obviously the Union's been taken."

"And who knows who else they have?" Summer added in a hushed voice. The silence was stifling. "What do we do now?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ice smirk. Unfortunately or fortunately, whichever way you see it, so did Solana. This time, she couldn't help herself.

I would not want to get punched by that girl.


	27. Chapter 27

**Sooooo… Heehee. After more than a year… I beez back with as update. :D **

**I like this chapter. I don't looooove it, but it's good. And it's fairly long (comparatively). If it's a little all over the place, that's probably because I'm trying to sort through the multiple plot lines I have going on here. THANKS SO MUCH TO SWEET BUT PSYCHO FOR EVERYTHING! Oh my goodness, I would never have gotten to this point if not for her. And, ironically enough, this chapter is also mainly the Go Rock Quad, so it's totes dedicated to her. She's done an amazing job with her fanfic Melody of Ambition, so go read it! Most of the character development in this is due to her awesome writing (especially the most recent chapter cause Garret is AWESOME!). **

**So, yeah, enjoy! And to catch everyone up…**

**Previously: **Lucy and Joel were chasing after Lavana and Alyssa after Sven stayed behind to capture Heatran. They were engaged in an aerial chase when they crashed in the middle of a school playground, where Lucy and Joel were placed in a precarious position. Also, a while ago, Kate and Keith had the Vatonage styler stolen from them by the Go Rock Quads, who had an objective of their own in all this chaos. Kate left without Keith to pursue them and eventually capture the Cresselia needed to calm Darkrai. That should sum everything up.

**YAY!**

* * *

**Joel**

Standing in the middle of this situation Lucy and I have found ourselves in, I decided that I've had better days.

I had dozens of small round faces staring at me in shock and no way to protect all of them. It was our worst nightmare. "No one move," I announced steadily. They all looked like they were older, ten or eleven, so they could at least follow my directions without question. They were all to the left of us, playing in a grassy field with a small playground to the side.

I took a tentative step forward and was halted immediately.

"Do. Not. Move."

So Lavana wasn't in a very good mood. Her hand moved to the pokeball behind her back and it opened to reveal her trademark pokemon, Magmortar. "One move and Magmortar unleashes its flamethrower." We could not have picked a worse place to land. She had the advantage and it was ridiculous how much control she had over us now. Might as well give her the leash and call it a day. The kids nearby us were just kind of staring at us curiously, faces confused with a tinge of fear, but also a bit of excitement. _Crap, _I thought to myself sourly, _Gotta make sure none of them decide to play hero._

This wasn't a game, but did they realize that?

I held out both hands, trying to show that I had nothing up my sleeves. Perhaps reasoning would work. "Look, Lavana, all we want is Alyssa and everything is fine. You can go free." As much as it pained me to be saying this at the moment, I didn't have much choice. We could pick her up later; Alyssa, however, and the kids of Boyleland Elementary School were much more important.

A cruel smirk played over the pink-haired admin's face. "I don't think you're in much of a position to be making terms here, Fall City."

I hid my frustration. "Well, then maybe there's something else we can get you. Lucy, call the Ranger Union for me and see what we have to offer."

"They won't pick up." Lavana cut in without even batting an eyelid.

It took a few seconds for the statement to sink in. I turned around to meet Lucy's eyes. She shook her head imperceptibly and I was struggling not to ball my hands into a fist. At least we weren't wasting our time. "What happened?"

I had to keep her talking, keep her attention on me. I was 100% sure that Lucy was planning something and so I had to give her space while she did. Damn, we could have used Jackie right now. That kid always has a plan.

She raised a single eyebrow, amused. _Amused_. What kind of game was this? Playing this war of words, squashing anything I had to say, threatening children? I was Joel Hatake, Fall City Area Leader and Dodrio Rider, and although she may throw my title around like it's something to be sneered at, I didn't get it because of getting the lead in a school play.

I sighed. "What do you want, Lavana?"

The smirk played across her face and I could tell that she was not worried about what I had to say. Not a bit. "You know, there are so many answers to that question," she sighed, looking over her manicured nails with a certain amount of satisfaction. "I'm not even quite sure where to start.

"Well," I heard Lucy's voice from behind me, almost cheerfully. "Let's start with this. Dragonite, Double Team."

So we were going to have to act like trainers for the moment, huh?

But Dragonite didn't even get a chance to move. And that's when the tables were turned.

Because a Drapion had entered the scene and was already striking at Dragonite with his poision tail. Another figure followed, blonde hair curled in a gravity-defying way and wearing a purple suit that was missing the dust that covered Lavana, Lucy, and I. The impact sent Dragonite flying backwards and Lucy had to throw herself out of the way to avoid being hit. Luckily, the giant dragon was tumbling away from the group of kids on our left, so no one was hurt.

We, however, were screwed. Dragonite was really the last trump card we had. Now, partnerless and exploited, we had few choices to pick from.

"Lavana, you never could handle things on your own, could you?"

The pink-haired admin snarled. "I was handling things just fine, _Kincaid. _I don't need your help."

"Sure," the former Ranger School teacher smirked. "Just be glad I was sent in as back-up. You take the girl and get out of here. I'll soon follow."

Lavana stalked through the middle ground between us, grabbed Alyssa roughly by the arm, and started to walk away. I could see Lucy's fist clench beside me, but I grabbed her arm before she could swing.

"Lucy. Be smart."

"Let go, Joel," she snarled, the red hair that escaped her braid blowing into her face. "We had her. We had her and they're just going to take her back! What am I supposed to tell Kate?"

I spoke quietly, meeting her eyes. "They need her for leverage and they're not going to hurt her. I can't say the same for us. We have to get away and re-group."

She gritted her teeth, eyes flicking away from my face and toward Kincaid and Lavana. "Arceus damn it."

"Now, rangers," Kincaid grinned at us, clearly in charge. "What to do about you?"

* * *

**Billy**

We had lost the ranger girl _years_ ago.

Seriously. We had escaped to Pueltown, taken our father's boat that was waiting for us there, and set sail. Whoever this girl was, she sure didn't deserve the Vatonage styler, so it was only fair that we took it. Survival of the fittest, right?

We were home free. All that was left to do was meet up with our father off the coast of Haruba Desert and get the hell out of dodge. Then we could plan the return of the Go Rock Squad and the reign of one of the greatest bands of all time. My siblings and I were determined to succeed. Well… Most of us were.

Some of us were more worried about personal health. Clyde was busy snoring away and Tiff was also lightly dozing. Garret seemed to be the only one concerned with what was currently going on around him. He was gazing out across the water, eyes focused on some point in the distance.

"Little bro, what are you up to?"

Said little brother frowned. "There's a boat out there."

For a moment, I was surprised enough to be in denial, but, when I followed his gaze and spotted the tiny boat in the distance, I laughed. "Please, Garret. We're fine. There's no way that boat can catch up to us. Never mind the fact that it's probably just a fishing boat or something totally unrelated."

"A fishing boat this far out?" He responded mildly, raising an eyebrow. I knew that he respected my unofficial leadership of this family and that he dared not overstep his bounds, but he was toeing the line here. But, they all did occasionally, and everyone knew that I came out on top every single time.

"Don't worry about it," I answered, turning toward the grunt who was manning the boat. "How much longer to the meeting point?"

"Another five hours, at most."

"See, bro. We'll be fine."

He turned back to face the ocean, hands gripping the side of our boat. "Okay, Billy."

I narrowed my eyes briefly, "You're still with us, right? This isn't going to be like last time when you decide to go soft at the last moment."

"No," he answered, gritting his teeth and looking like he wanted to argue with me. "I have no problem with what we are doing right now. None at all."

"Right now, you say. How about later?"

I knew I was pushing him, but I had to before he got some kind of moralistic mumbo jumbo in his head. But I also knew that blood ran deeper than anything he could manage to come up with. He would follow the family because we were what he had.

He looked away. "I just want what's best for the family."

"And I don't?" I answered, still studying him. "Forget about that boat. If it gets closer, then we do something about it."

I had everything under control.

* * *

**Garret**

I was still unconvinced. And as I kept an eye on this boat, I realized that it was gaining on us. At an alarming rate. I sent another glance toward Billy, who clearly saw me looking at the boat. Why wasn't he concerned? Tiff and Clyde were too preoccupied with other things to worry, I understood that, but Billy and I were different. Billy should know that this is a threat.

That's when Billy glanced toward the horizon and I saw what he had been waiting for. It the distance, clouds were gathering. He must have known that a storm was coming. His gaze said it all.

_The storm will take care of a little boat like that._

I smiled to myself. Of course Billy knew what he was doing. He always did, right? Even when the Go Rock Squad was falling apart, it was Father's fault, not Billy's. It was a flaw in Father's plans, not anything that Billy could control.

That's always what he said, anyway.

The storm came on fast. I noticed that our course had changed and I figured that it was because we didn't want the boat (that was quite obviously following us by now) to figure out our rendezvous point. We were headed more easterly now, and I spotted a landmass approaching in the distance. Haruba Village?

That had to be it. The storm intensified and I looked to Billy and thought that his crazy plan may in fact work. There was no way that a smaller boat like the one following us could survive this storm (although it looked like ours may not be holding up all that well). The water was splashing up over the sides and Billy was yelling at the few grunts we had at our disposal to get a hold of the ship. Pandemonium reigned and I couldn't see more than the length of the boat, so I had no idea how this thing was getting steered.

Lightning cracked and, in that precise moment, I heard a scream that without a doubt had to be Tiffany.

"Tiff?" I called out across the roaring wind, fighting to get across the boat to where I had seen her last. "Tiffany?"

Panic. Chaos. This was my family and for all the arguments we got in, we still stuck together. Apparently, Billy reacted the same way, as we both approached the front of the boat at the same time. Clyde was kneeling beside a frantic Tiffany who was gasping like a fish out of water. All four of us were soaked to the bone.

"I was right next to her the whole time, Billy, I swear," the words were tumbling out of Clyde's mouth as he looked around frantically for what could have alarmed her so much.

"Tiff, what's wrong?" Billy got the words out of his mouth first, but my thoughts were the same.

She pointed toward the water. "I swear- I saw something come out of the water. It couldn't tell what it was, but it came so close to my face that I- I could feel the wind."

"But, I was right next to you, Tiff. I may have been looking in a different direction, but I didn't notice anything." Clyde added in.

"The storm makes it hard to hear and the splash from the pokemon would have been drowned out by the waves," I commented, realizing that, while the storm provided a bad situation for the small boat, it also provided the best conditions for a silent attack. That is, if the attacker had a way of getting around.

If they were using pokemon, it had to be a ranger. Damn it.

I looked back toward the direction that the boat had been in. I couldn't see it, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the rain or the fact that it was actually gone-

The boat lurched, even more than it already was. We were thrown to the deck violently in a heap. Tiffany ended up at the bottom and made it known.

"Grawph! CLYDE! Your elbow is in my back, you jerk!"

"Tiff! I didn't… It's not my fault. Garret's foot is in my face!"

"BILLY! GET EVERYONE OFF OF ME!"

After a loss of dignity to all of us, we untangled ourselves and regained some semblance of poise. Tiffany's angry mutterings were only punctuated by Clyde's grumblings and Billy's harrumphs of disapproval. A grunt came running up from below deck, freezing as he saw us recovering from a fall. Unsure of how much he saw, Billy addressed him strictly nonetheless.

"Erm. Tell no one of what you just saw," he stated plainly, attempting to gather himself together and present a front of composure. "Report."

The grunt looked confused, but continued. "We just lost the rudder, sir."

Billy let out a long string of swears. If it wasn't obvious that we were under attack before, it certainly was now. His stare settled on the deck below as the gears in his head worked to come up with a plan. If our fear, we were all looking towards him. Everyone knew that Clyde's brawn, my brains, and Tiff's stubborn determination could only get us so far. Billy's resourcefulness was the only thing that could get us anywhere now.

He finally looked up and motioned for me. "Is your scizor down below?"

I nodded.

"Bring it up here."

I hesitated. "Billy, what are you going to do with-"

He sent me a glare. "Garret. There's no time."

This was going to be just like last time. I was going to give up any ideals I had for Billy's psycho plans and my pokemon would be in his control for whatever use he wanted. Could I really even describe me as having ideals? Even from within a group searching for world domination? And could I really have morals with an older brother like Billy controlling the family?

But I went to get Scizor anyway because I was scared and because the family had to be taken care of. And because a part of me still trusted Billy as my older brother and the protector of this family.

After that, he strode in the captain's cabin and came out with the Vatonage styler held tight in his hand. By now, the boat was under serious attack by whatever pokemon were attacking us, hidden by the raging waters around us.

"Clyde, take care of Tiffany. Garret." His eyes held my gaze for a full two seconds before he even opened his mouth. "Don't ever doubt that I want what's best for this family."

I just stood there, waiting for what he would do. Was he just leaving?

He climbed on top of the captain's cabin, holding the Vatonage styler high in the air. Even in the middle of the storm, he held on best he could and yelled as loud as he could muster above the wind. "Ranger! I know you're here. If you want this, you'll have to come get it."

Satisfied that he had gotten the ranger's attention, he climbed onto Scizor, which, at his command, jumped into the air. What was he doing? Scizor could glide certain distances, but it couldn't fly and with winds like this, it was risky even in the best odds.

That's when I noticed Haruba Village only a few hundred yards away. Billy had a chance of making it, even if he swam the last bit.

But he didn't even have his guitar with him. What good was it going to do him soaked anyway?

Soon afterwards, the only thing rocking the boat was the storm.

And, as soon as the storm had come, it seemed to disappear.

* * *

**Kate**

I finally had him cornered after the most tiring tracking process in my ranger career.

He was done. Even I could tell that. I'd put him through hell, but he had put me through it as well and the retribution I wanted was nothing more than putting things as they were before. Before all this craziness happened and Alyssa went missing and I started to lose my mind. I was doing this for Alyssa and that meant that I would do what I had to.

I had followed him through the desert that he had retreated to. It was hot and sultry, but I could see him in front of me now with the precious Vatonage styler attached to his waistband, the son of a bitch. He was just outside my reach and, when he glanced back to see me on his heels, he sped up. But I knew he couldn't keep this pace up for long. Finally, he turned to face me, still standing tall in his stubbornness. He had no means of fighting back that I knew of, so what was he doing?

"Well done, ranger. I try never to underestimate you types. The Ringtown duo taught me that much."

I narrowed my eyes, still expecting some last ditch effort to escape or fight back. The scizor he had taken off on earlier was beside him, but didn't appear to be making any moves. "Then why do you keep fighting against us?"

Billy shrugged. "Call it ambition, maybe? Call it pride? Stubbornness? Whatever you want, but my siblings and I want to be great. Maybe we'll eventually find a way to do it, but we'll keep trying until we do."

"Stop trying to rationalize this," I snapped. "You guys are nothing but common crooks. You mistreat pokemon and kidnap and steal and do whatever it takes."

"I'm not rationalizing," the oldest Go Rock sibling looked disinterested as he replied. "I don't need to. If it's starting to make sense to you, that's not my doing. But, you know the feeling of doing anything for your siblings, don't you? What happened to your sister again?"

"Don't you dare compare us," I clenched my fist, ready to end this before it poisoned my mind. He was so good at being manipulative, at twisting minds to see things a different way without ever even alerting his prey. "We are not even close to the same."

Billy rolled his eyes. "I wasn't saying that much. We're way above you rangers."

I took a step forward. "It doesn't matter. You can't run from what you've done. Arson on Lookout Ridge, going against ranger involvement, illegal possession and acquisition of a valuable ranger tool. I'm going to bring you in to the Ranger Union and you'll face what you've done."

He smiled cockily. "You want this," he brandished the Vatonage styler, showing no sense of caution, and attached it to scizor. "Go get it."

It took off. I stood, frustrated, for a moment, stuck between the two. I'd left Cranidos in Pueltown because we were going on the water and I didn't want to endanger him. I had no back-up and I needed that styler. And yet I couldn't shake that self-satisfied smirk on Billy's face as he turned to leave. Damn it! A part of me despised him, but another part could understand him. He had siblings that needed him. He'd abandon the cause for their sake, but he would not be taken in by the Union.

I thought about Alyssa.

And I took off after the scizor. Like Billy, I was fine with sacrificing others things to get what I needed for my sister. The Cresselia was my mission and it was here in Haruba Desert. I would do what I needed to.

Cresselia was next.

* * *

**So, the part about Garret going "soft" is a direct reference from the latest Melody of Ambition chapter, as is a lot of his character. That's Sweet but Psycho's! And... Yeah. That's it!**

**It's awesome to be back!**


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